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sunflowerskies00 · 11 days

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sun to me, part 1

5:43 a.m., i was about to start my day

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Note: i have made up a university for the purpose of the story. It made it easier than making up false things about other universities. In this the main character attends Garden State University in New Jersey. She's on the hockey team there.

New Jersey. The last place I thought I'd end up going to school. I thought I'd just follow Ethan to Michigan, that had been my plan for a long time. Sure, I'd have to deal with Ethan's overbearing self for another couple of years, but I would've survived.

That was what I would say whenever I was asked about what I was going to do for college. That was until Garden State University, home of one of the best NCAA women's hockey teams in the country, gave me a full ride. Suddenly all my plans changed, and my new home was New Jersey.

It didn't take long at Garden State for me to never want to leave, and going home for the summer was honestly kind of a bummer. And I counted down the days until I was headed back to campus for sophomore year.

As soon as I walk into the house that I was sharing with some of my teammates, I'm tackled into a hug.

"Oh my god, I missed you," Josie, one of my teammates and roommate, traps me in a bearhug so I can't move.

"I missed you too," I laugh. She finally lets me go so I can say hi to the other two who were waiting for their hugs.

"No Ethan here to terrorize you?" Ava, another teammate and roommate, asks.

"No, I told him he wasn't coming with me this year, because he gives me a headache, and I just spent far too much time with him for him to be in a car with me for more than twenty minutes," I say. Since our lease had started at the end of last school, a majority of my belongings were already in the house, so I didn't really have anything i needed to unpack, minus the few things I had already grabbed and brought inside with me.

"We were thinking we could go out for food?" Lindsey, my last roommate poses the question. "Obviously, we know you just drove for a really long time, so if you just want to go to bed we get it, but," She trails off. They want me to go, that's what that but means.

"Yeah, I'm in, but I'm not driving," I agree. "Give me like ten minutes to change out of this," I glance down at the sweat shorts and baggy sweatshirt I'm wearing. "And put these in my room, and I'll be good," I grab the couple of things I needed to unpack and head off to my bedroom.

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The couple of weeks that I had given myself to be back before classes started was not enough. I was not looking forward to classes starting again tomorrow. I was wishing I had given myself more time with my friends, because starting tomorrow, we had actual responsibilities again.

When Ava had suggested we all go out tonight, everyone had jumped on it, not wanting to think about classes starting back up in the morning.

The best part of the little hole-in-the-wall Mexican Restaurant we frequented? They didn't ID us, which meant 20-year-old me could drink a margarita with my chips and salsa and live in denial of school for a little while longer.

"Y/n," Josie's voice pulls me from my thoughts and my eyes snap over to her.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Is your brother dating anyone?"

"Ethan?" I confirm. She nods. I don't hide the disgusted look that takes over my face. "No, but he's disgusting," I point out.

"I hate to break it to you, but your brother is gorgeous, there are some seriously good genes in your family," Ava chimes in.

"Seriously, what the hell was in the water your parents were drinking, you and your brothers are so good-looking it's not fair," Lindsey agrees. I shrug not really having anything to say to that.

"If I dated your brother, would you be mad?" Josie changes the topic of conversation back to Ethan's dating life.

"No, but I'd feel bad for you," I snort. "He's so annoying," I put a chip in my mouth.

"When's he coming to visit?" She asks.

"Hopefully never, he gives me a headache," I say. She shoots me a look, she actually wants to know. "I don't know, he'll have hockey and so will we so honestly probably this fall at some point or in the spring, maybe both, I have no idea. But he'll come to visit at some point, he loves to do anything that annoys me," I answer her question. The conversation finally steers away from my brother and I excuse myself from the table to use the restroom.

I'm on my way back to our table when I hear someone say my last name. I look around confused before my eyes land on a familiar face. Ethan's old college teammate, Luke is staring back at me. We had only met in passing a couple of times, and it had been a little while since he and Ethan had been on the same team. I'm surprised he even realized who I was.

"Hey Luke," I offer him a small smile. I take a couple of steps so we're not such an awkward distance apart. "It's been a while," it's the first thing I think to say, and it sounds lame.

"Yeah," he nods in agreement, a small small on his lips. "How have you been?" He asks.

"Good, just school and hockey," I shrug my shoulders. Is anyone else feeling awkward? Or is it just me?

"Ethan mentioned something about you going to school here," he says. "Second year right?" I nod, not really knowing what I should say next. "Do you like Jersey?" He offers up another question. This was a painful conversation.

"I mean, I don't hate it, and I love Garden State," I finally feel like something I say doesn't sound awkward and weird.

"Did you get to do a lot of exploring and everything last year?"

"Not really," my cheeks turn pink. "I was either at hockey, in class, or doing homework, so I didn't do much, oh, and. I guess we're here a lot too." He's about to say something else when Lindsey appears.

"Y/n, there you are, we thought you ran away after all the talk about dating your brother," she doesn't seem to notice the very awkward conversation I'm currently participating in.

"No, just catching up to Luke," I nod towards the tall man, she just now seems to register is standing next to me. Her mouth forms an 'o' shape.

"Well, I'll let them know you didn't run away and you'll be back," she turns and walks back towards our table leaving me with Luke.

"Friends in love with your brother?" he looks amused.

"You have no idea," I laugh. "I should go," I nod in the direction that Lindsey walked. "They'll come looking for me again, they want all the details on Ethan's dating life," I roll my eyes. "Good to see you, Luke," I turn to leave but his voice has me stopping mid turn.

"Can I have your phone?" he asks. I raise a questioning eyebrow but hand over my unlocked phone. He clicks on a few things and then types something before handing my phone back. "If you ever decide you want to do more than just go to class and hockey, text me," he says. I glance down at the screen to see that he had added himself to my phone and sent himself a text.

"I might take you up on that," I don't hide the smile that takes over my face.

"Then I'll see ya around Edwards," he says to me. I just nod, before saying goodbye and heading back to my table.

#umich hockey #luke hughes #luke hughes imagine #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes x y/n #jack hughes #quinn hughes #nhl imagine #ethan edwards

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audioaujom · 7 months

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A Night in Zuzu City

Stardew Hub, < prev, next >

Hello hello! Welcome back to my very strange fluff streak! This week the crew from movie night heads into Zuzu city for a night of dinner and fun! And in very non-me fashion, nothing bad actually happens. As a note, some of the characters will be drinking in this chapter. Not heavily, nor in any non-responsible or unsafe ways, since they are all canonically around legal age. It's not an official tw, but if you don't like mentions of alcohol use here's your note.

Anyway, enjoy the cute chaos ((:

Word Count: 1795

“Alright! Let's do this!”

“Sam, calm down.” Sebastian sighed loudly, following his friend off the bus. “We’re in public.”

“Okay, dad.” Sam teased back, sticking his tongue out.

“Let's just find somewhere to eat.” Maru complained, trailing off the bus with Abigail and Penny in tow. “I'm starving.”

“This is so exciting!” Penny grinned, glancing around the unfamiliar streets of Zuzu City.

“I could go for some tacos.” Sam suggested, Abigail turning to him with a deadpan.

“You could always go for tacos.”

Sam shrugged, carelessly putting both arms behind his head and starting to stroll down the street. “Don't see your point.”

“Let's just walk around and see what's not that crowded.” Sebastian rolled his eyes, jogging after Sam and looking to make sure the others were following. “Though tacos do sound pretty good.”

The five wandered down the street they'd been dropped off on, glancing between colored signs and other groups of bustling people, peeking through restaurant windows in the last light of the fading summer evening. The first Mexican restaurant they found was absolutely packed—even the bar inside was full, with people standing between stools and servers running around in an effort to keep up.

“Oh hell no.” Maru immediately shook her head, glancing through the crowded window. “That's a three hour wait, minimum.”

“Maybe their outdoor seating is open?” Sam asked hopefully, the rest of his friends turning to stare at him.

“In this weather?” Abigail asked flatly, running her hand over a nearby wooden table only for it to come away wet. “It's damp out here.”

“Let's see if there's anywhere more open, first.” Sebastian started walking past the doors, motioning for everyone to follow. “We can come back if it seems like they cycle people quickly.”

“Well, what's up this way?” Sam strayed down a nearby side street, the other four not following.

“Let me check maps.” Abigail called after him, stopping him in his tracks.

“That looks like a sandwich shop.” Maru pointed down the side street Sam had stepped on, hand shielding her eyes as if to help her look further. “Maybe there?”

Sam followed her finger, frowning. “It looks deserted.”

“Exactly.”

“If it's deserted when everywhere else is busy, that's a bad sign.” Sebastian sighed, glancing over Abigail’s shoulder at her phone’s map.

“But I'm hungry!” Maru whined, starting to drift towards Sam and the restaurant she'd found.

“The place has good reviews.” Abigail chimed in, turning her phone screen towards Sebastian with a smirk.

“I know it's a bad sign, but everywhere else has lines out the door.” Sam said with a shrug, slowly backing towards the entrance. “We kinda gotta.”

“The reviews are good.” Abigail offered again, Sebastian shooting her a glare.

“Abby.”

She shrugged, tucking her phone away. “Just saying.”

The group filed into the completely empty restaurant, hovering behind Sebastian—who headed towards the small host stand.

“Oh, maybe this was a bad choice.” Maru mumbled, looking at the entirely wooden interior and how the few tables already had chairs turned up to sit on top.

“We’ll give it a shot and see.” Sebastian ignored her, smiling politely at the girl by the host stand.

“Hi! How many?” She asked, thumbing through faded laminated menus.

“5, please.” Sebastian nodded, elbowing Maru behind him as she snickered at his politeness.

“Right this way.”

“Do they really need to seat us in a place this small?” Sam mumbled to Abigail beside him, who loudly shushed him to hide her own giggling.

“It's dingy.” Maru said far too loudly as they sat down, thanking the waiter with a smile as she passed out the menus.

“It's charming!” Penny countered, only for Maru to scoff with a light grin.

“What a nice word for dingy.”

“Guys.” Sebastian groaned, four sets of eyes turning to him with varying smiles. “Public.”

Ignoring Sebastian’s complaint, they all dove into their menus to order a round of drinks—a Mike’s Hard Lemonade for Abigail and a strange mixed drink for Sam, while everyone else stuck to water—and then order food as soon as the drinks and a small appetizer of mozzarella sticks were delivered. After passing the menus off, Sam quickly took a sip of his strangely blue concoction through the two stirrers in the large glass that could be used as straws, eyes blowing wide.

“Whoa.”

“Strong?” Abby asked, sipping from her bottle.

“I didn't think so, cause I didn't taste any alcohol, but wow.” Sam nodded, shaking his head a little before going in for another drink.

“Oh no.” Sebastian put his head in one hand, ready to nurse the oncoming headache. “I'm not carrying you back to the Valley.”

“I'll do it.” Abby volunteered, Maru laughing from where she was sitting at the far end.

“No way you could carry him that far.”

“I could try?” She grinned, knowing Maru was right. “I could drag him to the bus, I bet.”

“I guess the Mike’s is hitting you hard.” Sam rolled his eyes, elbowing Abigail.

“Anyone else want a mozzarella stick?” Penny asked, pushing the mostly empty basket towards the middle of the table. “They're pretty good.”

“I've already had two.” Maru shrugged, leaning back in her seat with a satisfied smile. “Did everyone get one? Speak now or I'll eat the rest.”

“Oh, I should have some.” Sam said suddenly, reaching out to grab one and immediately scarf it down.

Sebastian glanced at Sam over the top of his water glass, pausing mid-sip. “Please tell me you're not drinking on an empty stomach.”

“I had lunch!” Sam defended.

“Several hours ago!” Setting his cup down a little harder than necessary, Sebastian glared at Sam across the table.

“Oh man, that's why he's so loopy.” Abigail giggled, finishing off her bottle.

“I'm not drunk.” Sam shook his head, pushing away the half finished drink with unwarranted confidence.

“You're tipsy.” Snatching the last mozzarella stick, Maru grinned.

“I resent that!”

“Here.” Penny rolled her eyes, stealing the snack from Maru and passing it to Sam.

“You're the only one who cares about me.” Sam lamented, faux-tearfully inhaling the food.

“How strong even is your drink?” Sebastian wondered, motioning across the table for Sam to pass his glass. “Pass it here.”

“Have at it.” Shrugging, Sam pushed the glass towards his friend.

“Wow.” Sebastian hummed thoughtfully after taking a small sip through the straw. “That's pretty good. What's in it?”

“Oh, here’s a menu.” Penny picked up the single page drink menu from the end of the table, handing it to Sebastian—who nearly spit out his taste of the drink as he found its description.

“Holy shit, what?” He stumbled out, sputtering a little. “It’s orange vodka, blue curaçao, melon liqueur, and rum?”

“I don't taste any rum.” Sam said in awe, taking the glass back and drinking more. “It really just tastes like Sprite.”

“It does, yeah.” Sebastian nodded, putting the drink menu down to go back to his water. “Nice. Not for me, though.”

“Want some of mine?” Abby offered the last dregs of her bottle to Sebastian, who rolled his eyes.

“Nah, I'm okay.”

They idly chatted while waiting for their food, eyes occasionally straying to the football game playing on the TV over the bar. Abigail ordered another Mike’s as the wait seemed to stretch on forever, already losing the buzz from the first one. She was only a few sips into it when Sebastian stole the bottle from her, keeping a hold onto it as he smirked and started drinking from it.

“I thought you were okay!” She whined, trying to swipe it back from him only for him to continually keep it out of her reach.

“Changed my mind.”

She glared, trying one more time to take the bottle back—to no avail. “How dare you.”

“You've had enough, anyway.” Sam interrupted, taking large gulps of the water provided with his drink.

“Says you!” Abigail defended hotly, crossing her arms and leaning back in her seat to pout.

It wasn’t long after that their waiter came out of the back with a tray heavily laden with food, balancing it expertly on two hands as they weaved towards the only full table in the restaurant.

“Oh man, I hope that's our food.” Maru sat up excitedly, watching the waiter with hungry eyes.

“There is no one else in here.” Abigail pointed out, though she was also sitting up eagerly. “It better be our food.”

The waiter was quick to drop their food off at the table, giving Sam his large burger, Penny her steak covered salad, and the other three their varying sandwiches.

“Oh dude, this burger fucks.” Sam practically moaned around his fourth oversized bite, barely slowing down long enough to speak.

“That… is a very strange way to refer to food.” Sebastian said slowly, making sure to chew his food before saying anything to the table.

“Nah, he’s got it.” Maru disagreed, also working her way through her sandwich much faster than the others.

“I’m sure there’s a better way to phrase that.” Abigail shook her head, picking over her sandwich with a small smile.

“This is pretty good!” Penny chimed in, before the table fell into relative silence as they all ate their pretty decent food and passed pieces of it all around for everyone to try.

They paid and left as soon as they were done, wandering through the darkened streets to find something else to do, eventually landing on a nearby park—which really was just a small stretch of green space with a bench and a tree. Sam sat down next to Penny on the bench while Maru went to lie in the grass under the tree, Sebastian hovering over Abigail’s shoulder to keep an eye on her slightly wobbly steps.

“...thanks.” Penny said quietly after a long moment, a sobered-up Sam turning to her curiously.

“For what?”

“Inviting me along.” She explained, watching Sebastian lightly smack Abigail upside the head with a soft smile. “I know it’s normally just you and Abigail and Sebastian, and Maru gets a free pass cause she’s his sibling, but…”

“Hey, don’t even worry about it.” Sam lightly bumped his shoulder into hers, laughing. “We love having you around as long as you don’t mind the chaos.”

“Oh, dude, she’s so tipsy.” Maru called as Abigail wobbled again, the latter whining loudly in protest.

“I’m not!”

“You can’t even walk in a straight line!” Sebastian chastised, grabbing her arm to keep her from toppling over.

“That would make me drunk, and I am neither!”

Maru sat up, playfully frowning. “Can we leave her here?”

“Don’t tempt me.” Sebastian threatened, shaking Abigail lightly to cover up his own amusement. “Cause I will.”

Penny giggled, turning back to Sam with a wide smile. “I don’t mind at all.”

#stardew valley #stardew #stardew fanfic #sdv #sdv fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #cross posted on ao3 #fluff #sdv maru #sdv sebastian #sdv sam #sdv penny #sdv abigail

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alexandermaxblogs · 7 months

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The Ultimate Comfort Food Takeout Guide for Cozy Evenings

What about having food takeout to make your evening cozy?

Okay, so how many date nights or special occasion evenings have you spent dinner-making in your kitchen while your peers spent such evenings in a great way courtesy of ordering in takeouts, sitting on their couches, Netflixing, chilling, and doing everything that a cozy evening requires? Hey, no judgment here, but don’t you think a change could spice up things for you?

I was also bogged down with the routines of preparing my evening meals, even on occasions when I should have simply let go and allowed myself to indulge in the beauty of an evening by going for food takeout.

This was until a friend working at a famous restaurant offering Mexican food near me encouraged me to throw away my apron and scroll through a food takeout guide she provided me to choose one that could deliver me ultimate comfort during my cozy evenings.

The guide exposed me to information on the best takeout restaurants near me, with the most enticing being those that offer Italian food near me and Japanese food delivery near me.

I have now made it a habit to go for food takeout when I have special occasion evenings or when I just want to experience ultimate comfort during cozy evenings.

Here is the ultimate guide to experiencing great evenings with food takeout

According to leading Hartford restaurants, the meal you order for takeout has a huge influence on the kind of comfort you will experience during the evening you want to use the food.

All the best takeout restaurants near me, including the Mexican and Italian food delivery restaurants near me, agree that the guide to ultimate comfort food takeout for cozy evenings must include the following food takeouts:

Portobello Mushrooms with Truffle Mash

It doesn’t matter whether you are vegetarian or not at the moment. Just try out portobello mushrooms with truffle mash and see whether you won’t make the switch after you eat them.

This favorite takeout meal tastes like steak, but instead, it is portobello mushrooms disguised alongside some super decadent truffle-infused mashed potatoes.

Marry Me Chicken

As the name suggests, you will experience ultimate comfort during your cozy evenings when you order Marry Me Chicken. It comes with sun-dried tomatoes, chicken thighs, and a creamy sauce, which are pretty much what you need to make your date night comfortable, cozy, and perfect.

Pasta with Savory Jack Sausage and Parmesan

If you have never done orecchiette, how about trying a takeout of it this evening? Ensure it is provided in a saucy butter sauce. I can confirm to you that you will never know it is actually plant-based jackfruit instead of sausage! Go ahead, indulge, and make your evening memorable!

Seared Scallops and Mushroom Risotto

This fancy scallop risotto recipe is a meal you should get at a restaurant for your anniversary. It will make the anniversary evening very memorable!

Butter-Basted Sirloin Steak

Steak is the go-to dish if you want to have a romantic dinner. You should go for some really fancy parsnip wedges to go with the steak instead of fries.

Fried Butternut Tacos

Butternut tacos not only look cute, but they are an awesome plant-based option for anyone who doesn’t eat meat. The recipe is 100 percent vegan and 100 delicious.

Other recipes known to spice up evenings

Other recipes you can takeout to spice up your evenings and deliver the ultimate comfort you desire include Pasta Primavera, Truffle Pizza, Sirloin Tip Roast, Lemon Rosemary Chicken, Honey Glazed Salmon, Korean BBQ Beef Bowls, Cheese Roasted Garlic Alfredo Stuffed Spaghetti Squash, and Classic Lasagna, among others.

Need help with more ultimate comfort food takeout ideas for cozy evenings?

Get in touch withGreater Hartford Menus for more ideas about how you can spice up your evenings with amazing food takeouts that guarantee you ultimate comfort.

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rachaeljurassic · 3 years

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Head canons, AU's and fic ideas

These were ideas I threw out in a dm but never posted here so I thought I'd post them for Jenny Calendar Day :)

1. Jenny spent their entire second date asking Rupert when the kids were going to turn up just to see how many ways Rupert knows how to say 'I'm sorry'. Half-way through the main course his three adoptive kids burst into the restaurant.

2. When Xander spills something on a book in the library he runs off to find Ms Calendar because he knows when Giles finds him he’ll become totally distracted and won't remember why he was mad at him anymore.

3. AU - One day at Jenny's she put on a video. Rupert was confused, he wasn't really a fan of....was this R&B? It took a while before he recognised one of the dancers. Later he would deny that he sat there, mouth open, through the whole song...or that it influenced his sudden decision to 'screw dinner'. Nor did it have anything to do with his new-found love of Prince.

4. Jenny's running joke was leaving the corkscrew earring in ever increasingly crazy places for Rupert to find (where upon he would dutifully return it to her). The worst/best had been when he'd been called in to Snyder's office and noticed it on his bookshelf, poking out from between the Staff Handbook and a heavy tome titled, simply, 'Leadership'. He'd had to break out his lock picking skills late that night to get it back

5. On that first date, at the Mexican restaurant, Giles said he was OK with hot food because he was OK with curries. He did not realise that Mexican food is a WHOLE other kind of hot and spent the entire meal trying to pretend his mouth wasn't on fire. Jenny noticed, as he turned redder and redder, so started offering him increasingly hot chillies to see if he'd crack. "No, no, I'm fine," Rupert lied. Eventually Jenny took pity on him and ordered an enormous ice cream for his desert.

6. Jenny purposefully rearranges items in Giles' kitchen cupboards. The first time was an accident (all the cutlery was in the wrong slots). Rupert became 'irrationally pedantic' about it, insisting he could 'reach for a fork and cut a finger off'. Jenny couldn't resist teasing him about it until she wound Rupert up good and proper...which unsurprisingly led to some supremely good sex. This did almost back-fire once. Jenny had swapped the teacups for the mugs ('I mean, who segregates their cups, Rupert?!'), and they were working there way towards the supremely good sex portion of the argument, when Buffy walked in. The slayer was a little confused when neither of them could keep a straight face and Rupert had to excuse himself. 'I'll explain' Jenny called out to his retreating figure.

7. Giles and Jenny in lock down AU. Giles is super cautious and spends most of his time trying to stop Jenny climbing out of the window to 'run in the park' - 'you're not a puppy, Jenny'. Jenny's cutlery rearranging takes on mammoth proportions. Giles runs out of books 'I didn't think that was possible Rupert....stop chewing your sweater, dear'. They reaffirm their very different tastes in music when Jenny hides all his records. Buffy makes a shopping run for them and is shocked to find that Jenny is now living in a fort she built in the living room and Giles appears to have locked himself in the bathroom. Giles runs out of tea. There may have been an unmanly melt down. Jenny suspects Giles is trying to raise a demon, just to have something to do. Giles suspects that Jenny is hiding his socks, just to have something to do. Both of them think it would be better if they lived in separate apartments for a while but neither of them want to bring it up because while it might be for the best neither of them actually want to have to think about not seeing the other one every second of every day. And, of course, lots of making up making out and a realisation that if they can forgive each other for demon possession, lying about curses, and all the crimes committed during two months in one small apartment, then they can get through anything.

8. A friend of Jenny's gave her a bunch of stickers when she took up teaching, the usual stuff like 'good job' and 'keep it up' but some that she just never used because they seemed like they were for little kids. That was until she met Rupert. The first one she stuck on his jacket lapel was a picture of Mickey Mouse saying 'Awesome' after he suggested going out for dinner. Rupert tried not to smile and failed. The second was 'magical work' because it seemed appropriate. One day she marched into the library and stuck 'learning objective achieved' on his shirt when he successfully replied to an email. After a bit of an argument she used 'correct and return', it broke the tension and they ended up almost getting caught kissing by her grade 11 computer class. Then there was the one of a dinosaur 'I am a workosaurus' and a thumbs up 'great reading' and a big star with 'I listened' written on it which was possibly a little sarcastic because she'd slapped it on his tie in the middle of a fight about whether or not the library needed a website. Eventually she ran out of stickers and forgot all about it until one evening in early January when she was staying over at Rupert's. She'd asked if he wanted to throw away his 1997 calendar. "Oh...er.....well..." And then she noticed that he'd stuck every one of the stickers she’d given him on the back. Giles tries to pretend he's exasperated by it all but he's secretly thrilled. He's never got a sticker before.

@dreadfulcalendarwoman

#jenny calendar day #calendiles #jenny calendar #giles #fic ideas #au's #head canons

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lovelyirony · 3 years

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@peachy-keener incredibly late, but better that than never, right?

Rhodey has mourned Tony far more often than you should mourn for a friend. He mourned him when he was lost to Afghanistan, cried far too many tears than he actually let on. He cried and mourned when he saw the crossword puzzle creeping along his chest at a steady rate, because he knew what that meant, but they never mentioned it.

His heart leaped into his throat when he saw the news of Tony going into space, hurtling back down at a speed that no one could really come back from, but he did.

And he mourned when Tony went back up into space for a second time and didn’t come back down. When people disappeared, and Rhodey and Pepper had to lean on each other as they grieved. As they buried an empty casket and held far too much hope that he would come back.

But then he did. Tony came back, and their hearts sang. Rhodey and Pepper couldn’t stop touching his shoulder lightly, pulling him into hugs whenever he needed one. They wanted to hide him away from the world, and he didn’t mind much.

They didn’t talk about space. They didn’t talk about it, just focused on getting him better.

And then they bring Morgan into the world. She has Pepper’s nose and Tony’s inquisitive eyes, and Rhodey is ready to be the doting uncle. He holds her as Pepper and Tony drag their feet upstairs to get some much-needed sleep, and Rhodey promises that he won’t let harm come to Morgan.

He should’ve promised no harm to any of the family.

Tony is tired, and he has saved the world before.

“I…am…Iron Man.”

His last symphony. His last stand.

Rhodey knows he’s not coming back from this one, not with how far away they are.

He passes on and it’s time, but Rhodey hates how bitter his throat feels. Tony just saved the world and as shitty a want as it is, Rhodey wishes—he almost wishes—that he hadn’t.

“We both knew he would be the one,” Pepper whispers as they’re on the plane ride home. Happy is with Morgan, and they have to tell her that dad isn’t coming back.

That affects him more than he thought it could.

She’s still young. Maybe it won’t be bad. God, she’s going to have a lot to live up to. It reminds him of Tony a year after they graduated college, complaining about how much of a legacy Howard had left behind, how he couldn’t fill his shoes.

“You don’t fill someone else’s shoes, you buy your own damn shoes,” Rhodey had told him at the time.

He wonders when Morgan will need that advice.

They have a private funeral. It’s the team and the family.

He notices one kid there that he wasn’t expecting—Harley Keener.

Tony had told him all about Harley.

“He’s smart, and an asshole,” he had said while they were on the balcony.

“Oh, so he’s you?” Rhodey responded, grinning as Tony sent him a dirty look.

“Not the point, and no. We are not alike.”

“I guarantee that you are.”

“Hmph.”

While Rhodey had never seen Harley in person, Tony had shown him pictures and called him frequently. Keener was a smart kid, miles above everyone in his small town. He’s been able to keep up with all of Tony’s light jabs and able to launch back some of his own. Rhodey’s laughed as he was in the kitchen, listening to them.

And this.

Rhodey hates mourning. And so when the bouquet gets pushed out onto the lake, when everyone coalesces into their own groups, he watches everyone.

Pepper is surrounded with Morgan and people wishing her well before they leave. Happy and May surround Peter, who’s eyes have been rimmed with red every single day now.

And Harley…he doesn’t know anyone here. He’s never met half the people.

So Rhodey approaches him.

“You may not know me. I’m Rhodey.”

“I know who you are,” Harley says, although his tone is even. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“So am I,” Rhodey says.

Neither of them have cried. They both don’t like crying. (They don’t know that about each other yet.)

They stand together for a moment, and Rhodey turns towards him.

“What brought you all the way here?”

“May or may not have been someone else’s car,” Harley says. “May not have been the best idea.”

Rhodey laughs.

“It’s what Tony would’ve done.”

The past lays thick on his tongue as they stand there together.

“I, um. I don’t mean to be rude. But, uh. Hotels are all full here, and I’m really not looking forward to crashing in the car. Do you know a place I could stay around here?”

“Come with me,” Rhodey says. “I have a place not too far from here.”

Rhodey’s place isn’t the secluded cabin that Tony had built.

“Jealous?” he asked Rhodey, grinning.

“Of course,” Rhodey scoffs. He’s jealous—just not of the cabin. He’s jealous about—

“Rhodey, good to see you again,” Pepper says. She has a hand cradled around her stomach. “What do you think of this place?”

“Good views and better people,” Rhodey responds, smiling. Wishing he was smiling about something else.

But that doesn’t matter now.

His place is an apartment that has another bedroom, because he was a fool and thought that Tony would need another place to crash, but he has a house and a wife and a daughter. So then it became Morgan’s room.

Some of her toys are still here, and a note from Tony. Rhodey sweeps it out of the room before Harley can see it, and moves some of the toys to underneath the bed.

“It’s not much, but it’ll do,” he says.

“This is more than enough,” Harley answers, dropping a backpack that looks like it should’ve been replaced about two years ago.

Rhodey doesn’t know what to say. Just says that he’ll order a pizza and he’ll call Harley when it’s here.

It’s from Tony’s favorite place in the area. Well, really Morgan’s. But Tony loves whatever someone else loves. That’s why his favorite Mexican restaurant was Rhodey’s favorite. The pizza is good.

He calls Harley, and they eat together.

“When Tony and I first ordered a pizza from college, he ate it with a fork and knife,” Rhodey says.

Harley grins.

“What, like a full-fledged socialite?”

“Yup. Had to ask him what the hell he was doing and practically teach him how to hold a pizza. He couldn’t do it for a month, and finally broke down around midterm season of college.”

Harley cracks a grin.

They trade stories back and forth.

Harley made Tony like two country songs, which amazed Rhodey. He tells him all about Tony’s first lab, and the cursed poster of Bruce Lee on the wall that got warped in the factory production, so his legs were stretched a bit too long, and the proportions were totally messed up.

In the morning, Rhodey is in his chair. This is usual routine, but he fears it might be a bit more routine now since Tony isn’t here to fix him up. None of the doctors even come close to the mobility the braces give, and they weren’t exactly doing one-hundred-percent after the big fight.

(And Rhodey feels guilty, that his thoughts are on this.)

Harley takes one look at them and suggests two different ways to fix them.

He’s a hell of a lot like Tony.

“Let’s get to work,” Rhodey says. “After breakfast.”

Harley and Rhodey take their eggs the same way: over-easy. With a piece of toast. Fruit’s on the side, a glass of juice to the right. It’s weirdly similar. But Harley likes strawberries over blueberries.

“You the reason why Tony likes blueberries?” Harley asks. “Or, uh, liked blueberries?”

“Yeah,” Rhodey says. “I am. He couldn’t get enough of them after we went blueberry-picking.”

“You went blueberry-picking?”

“Not all of our trips were extravagant,” Rhodey says. “I’ll tell you more about it when we get to the garage.”

Tony’s lab was always a bit more futuristic, and Rhodey liked the basics.

“Glad I can actually find the tools here,” Harley murmurs. “Tony’s organization was a shit-show.”

“He never could do it,” Rhodey says, laughing.

They work on the braces. Harley makes leaps and bounds and assumes and then is correct and gets a little grin when he’s right.

Rhodey thinks he picked that up from Tony.

“I’ll probably need to go to Tony’s lab space to pick up some stuff,” Harley says.

“We can go tomorrow,” Rhodey says. “It’s Morgan’s dinner and bath time right now, and if she still hates baths as much as I remember, Pepper’s gonna be exhausted after that.”

“I just. I don’t wanna invade your space for too long,” Harley says, uncomfortable.

“It’s for the best,” Rhodey says. “But I don’t wanna keep you any longer than you want to be kept here.”

“I like it here.”

“You do?”

Harley looks up at him, shuffling his beat-up sneakers together. Reminds Rhodey of how Tony used to tease him about his shoes.

“Dude. Your shoes are duct-taped together. It’s orange duct-tape. Are you joking me?”

“They can last a little longer!” Rhodey protests. “And I don’t need new shoes. These are fine.”

“You can afford them,” Tony deadpans. “I know Mama’s gonna kick your ass if you show up in those when you visit next weekend.”

“She won’t kick my ass,” Rhodey grumbles.

Tony rolls his eyes, but leaves a kiss on the forehead for him.

“I gotta go to class. Love you!”

The responding “love you too” goes unnoticed and unheard.

The next day, Rhodey and Harley are awkwardly waiting outside of the house.

Morgan hugs Rhodey tight.

“I’ve missed you!” she says. “I made a Lego castle.”

“You did?” Rhodey asks, smiling. “Well, you’ll have to show me.”

Morgan looks hesitantly at Harley.

“This is your cousin, Harley,” Rhodey says. “He’s the one from real far away. You remember where?”

“Tennessee,” Morgan says proudly.

Harley looks surprised.

“He…told her about me?”

“He told Morgan about everyone,” Pepper says quietly. “Tony loved you.”

Harley doesn’t say anything, just smiles as Morgan nods and still drags Rhodey to go see her structure that he’s built.

Pepper lets Harley into the garage, to yell if he needs anything. Her breath hitches as she sees the pictures and she sees the tools still lying haphazardly across.

Harley doesn’t know what to respond. He just walks forward.

He likes seeing what Tony was up to here. It feels like a better tribute to his memory than the flowers. They were a nice touch, but this…this is the Tony that he knew. That he knows.

Rhodey, after seeing Morgan’s impressive structure and checking in with Pepper (who is not doing well, but that’s…unfortunately expected), he goes over to Harley.

He looks so damn natural in the garage. He looks like Tony for a moment. For a moment, Rhodey can see Tony sifting through all the different drawers where he never kept anything organized, the small little furrow to his brow that he would get.

For a moment, Harley is Tony, kind of.

“Find what you need, kiddo?”

“Yeah,” Harley says, putting one of the smaller screwdriver behind his ear like Tony used to do. “You ready to go, or are we gonna stay for a while?”

“You know the way back home?”

“I…think so.”

“GPS already has it locked in for you. I gotta talk with Pepper some.”

Harley nods, already raising his hands up for the keys. Rhodey tosses them, and for a moment Harley reminds him a lot of himself.

Rhodey sits down with Pepper while they watch Morgan color a picture.

“She had a bad day yesterday,” Pepper says. “Dying is…it’s unfair.”

“I know,” Rhodey responds. “But at least Tony left her a message. And she has you and Happy and I.”

“But is it enough?” Pepper asks.

“No,” Rhodey answers. “When someone leaves, nothing is ever enough. But we work with what we are given.”

“We’ve never been good at that,” Pepper says, voice watery with grief.

They never have been, Tony and Pepper. Tony because he’s used to doing the impossible, Pepper because she’s always had to work with more than what she was given. That’s just what running a company like Stark Industries did to her.

Rhodey…he’s never been one for the impossible, he just rolls with the punches.

Tony never could. That’s why he stood against Stane, against Vanko, against his own death. It’s why Pepper adjusted to it.

Rhodey doesn’t know what to tell her other than that. So he asks her if she wants him to cook dinner, and she says no.

“Gives me a sense of routine,” Pepper says. “I’m working on writing down all of his recipes for Morgan.”

“I’ll bring some of my own by next visit,” Rhodey says.

He’s pretty sure right now, she’s only living for Morgan. Tony was the love of her life, even if sometimes she rolled her eyes at his antics. They fit well together. They fit so well together.

He swallows the jealousy down his throat, wills it to just leave, and texts Harley to come pick him up.

He gets there, and Rhodey doesn’t say much as he gets himself into the car.

“Pepper doing okay?”

“As good as she can be. She’s cooking dinner, so that’s an improvement.”

“Good. What are we having for dinner?”

Rhodey thinks about what they have in the pantry. Harley will probably need more than they eat.

“We need to stop at the grocery store.”

Harley nods, and Rhodey tells him where to go. Harley drives with the self-assurance that all new teens have, and it’s half-terrifying, half-exhilarating. It reminds Rhodey of when Tony would let him drive his fancy cars and he’d almost have a heart-attack the whole time.

This is payback.

“How did you get your license?” Rhodey wheezes.

“I didn’t,” Harley says with a shrug.

“Next stop: the DMV.”

“DMV doesn’t matter, Rhodey,” he says, tossing him the keys as they get out of the car. “What are we getting?”

“Lots of pasta. What kind of fruit do you like? Vegetables?”

“Do we need vegetables?” Harley says, scrunching up his face.

“Yes,” he answers, laughing. “We can do a small portion, but we still need vegetables.”

Harley sighs, but gets a grocery cart and they start going.

They get everything in a good sense of time, and Rhodey sneaks in a good amount of candy, which isn’t so much a sneaky thing, because Harley sees the whole thing and sneaks in his own choice, which are those weirdly spicy snacks that will probably absolutely wreck an intestinal system if one eats too much of them.

“When is your mom expecting you back?” Rhodey asks as they unload the car.

“Sometime this week,” Harley says. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen when I came here, if anyone would need anything. Looks like they don’t.”

“Well I need your help with cooking dinner,” Rhodey says. “Put my strainer on the top shelf, and no way in hell can I reach it now. Plus, you’ve been helping me out with my braces. You’re doing good, kid.”

Harley nods and doesn’t say anything back.

Rhodey gets it.

They eat spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. They don’t talk much until they’re washing the dishes (Rhodey hates the dishwasher and uses it for storage more than anything), and Harley looks at him.

Really looks at him.

“You miss him a lot, don’t you?”

Rhodey stops washing the plate.

“Yeah.”

No point in denying it. No point in doing any of that when someone dies. You miss them or you lie very badly and say you don’t miss them.

“What was your favorite thing about him?” Harley asks.

“I can’t choose one.”

“Then tell me about all of them. I never really got to hear a lot from you about your college days.”

“Well let’s start off with the premise that everything Tony told you about me is a lie,” Rhodey jokes. “But I met this skinny little kid my first day of move-in, and I was also a skinny little kid, so we wreaked havoc in the dining hall. They had it set up buffet-style, so…”

Harley listens with rapt attention, laughing at all the right parts and interjecting with his own opinion on the matters at hand.

He tells Rhodey about Rose Hill. He tells him about his mother and his sister, about Tony who has always been awkward as hell around people he wanted to impress.

Rhodey tells him about the time that Tony was gone, the first time. How it felt like part of his heart was out of its body, how he went nearly crazy trying to find him.

They talk and the spaghetti gets cold, and they have to refill water glasses because they’ve talked so much.

Rhodey ends up cleaning up the kitchen after Harley goes to bed, and he hums Tony’s favorite song as he does it. Tony always had some sort of music going when he was cleaning, although he’d usually get side-tracked if one of his many, many favorite songs came on, and leave a dish half-cleaned as he danced.

He misses Tony a hell of a lot.

But as he cleans up and he checks up on Harley, who’s fallen asleep on the couch with his arms at a very weird angle, he realizes something, and that is that this kid will need him for a long time.

He’s a genius, just like he and Tony are. (Were? He’s not sure. Doesn’t want to think about using the past tense.) But Harley needs help. He needs someone who can help him with his future, and Rhodey can do that.

He wants to do that.

So when Harley packs up everything to head back to Tennessee, Rhodey gives him his number and a couple of road trip snacks.

“I’m here for you, alright?” he says, smiling as Harley gets the last of his stuff into the car.

“I know,” Harley says. “I’ll call you when I need something.”

“Or if you just want to talk,” Rhodey responds. “Don’t do anything stupid without consulting me.”

“Oh come on,” he whines. “I don’t do anything stupid.”

Two months later, he gets a phone call that is trying to be casual.

“Hi Harley,” Rhodey starts out, “what are you doing in public airspace?”

“Um, that’s not me?” Harley says, but Rhodey can hear the whistling of the wind that he remembers from when Tony pulled the same trick.

“I’ll come up with an excuse for you,” Rhodey sighs. “Just…get here. I know that you probably forgot some stupid, obvious thing.”

“I resent that remark!”

“And you resemble it,” he says with a laugh. “Please tell me you remembered the icing problem.”

“The…icing problem?”

“Drop your altitude!” Rhodey barks.

“But then I might get caught!”

“You telling me you can’t go faster than a fighter jet?”

“…no.”

Rhodey laughs. Of course Harley would factor that but not icing.

“Alright, circle back. I got you.”

“Promise?”

“As long as you don’t do anything stupid.”

“You can handle stupid.”

#harley keener #tony stark #rhodey #one-sided rhodeytony :(#pepper potts #morgan stark #awkward dynamics!#lovelyirony writes #harley is like both rhodey and tony!!!! i love that #i hope i did this justice

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broadstbroskis · 4 years

Text

four times your best friend ruined a date + one time he didn’t | mat barzal

a/n: once again, not the fic i set out to write this weekend, but here we have arrived! enjoy💜

the first

Look, no one has ever told you that you have a problem making your voice heard. You’re pretty chatty. Your voice carried. In fact, usually, people were asking you to stop talking, to lower your voice.

Not on this date. Max from Tinder had let you say two things in the amount of time since you sat down at the table outside one of your favorite Mexican restaurants in Brooklyn: hello and your food order.

Your meal is good, as always, and the margs can’t come fast enough to drown out Max across from you. Each time you’ve tried to respond to something he’s said, he just talks louder. You’ve given up on this one. You’ll get a good meal out of this and never talk to this asshole again.

But then, you spot a familiar head of hair walking toward you on the sidewalk and you’re shouting out before you can help yourself. Like you can’t keep words in any longer and if Max from Tinder isn’t going to let you use them, you’ll just throw them out anywhere you can. “Mat!”

You almost laugh at your best friend, a 6’0 giant who often looked even larger, as he does a double take, but he is able to track down the sound. He grins when he realizes it’s you and he’s quickly by your side, wrapping his arm around you as you lean your head against his hip, the body part closest to him, and beam up at him. “What’s up?”

You nod over at Max from Tinder, whose face has soured, as he looks at Mat. “Just out.”

“We’re actually kinda in a thing right now.” Max from Tinder says to him, rather rudely, if you had to say. “So if you don’t mind,” He trails off, very pointedly, looking over at the sidewalk.

Your jaw actually drops at that, but Mat just grins and jumps the railing between the restaurant and the street. “I don’t mind at all, actually! I haven’t seen YN all week.” He yanks the empty chair over from the table next door and sits. “What’s new, babe?”

You can’t help but laugh at the look on Max from Tinder’s face as you answer Mat. “Nothing much, boo.”

“Seriously?” Max from Tinder asks, furiously, looking absolutely livid as he attempts to stare Mat down, who for his part, looks as calm as can be as he asks you how work’s been, what’s new with your family, what dumb shit your brother has got up to in his frat this week- all the usual things he’d ask you when the two of you were trying to catch up.

The final straw comes when Mat orders a marg of his own. Max from Tinder just stands up from the table and walks out the door. “What a douche.” Mat says, mildly, dipping a chip in one of the salsas on the table.

“Look who’s talking!” You laugh.

“Sorry, what was that?” Mat feigns not being able to hear you. “A thank you for not making you sit here with him for any longer?”

You laugh again, pushing his favorite salsa closer to him. “Thank you.”

He beams back at you. “Anytime.”

the second

Ashley lets out a low whistle as you step out of her closet, fuck me heels carefully chosen from her collection to match the little black dress pulled from your own wardrobe. “Damn.” She whistles again and you flashback for a moment to freshman year, when she became your favorite roommate for doing the same thing the first time you went out together. “Where’s Kevin from Finance taking you?” You adjust the straps of the dress in her mirror as you drop the name of the expensive restaurant that your co-worker was taking you to for your third date. “Okay, yeah.” She laughs. “You’re putting out tonight.”

“Ashley!” You laugh, instead of dismissing her entirely.

“I’ll expect a full run-down tomorrow.” She sing-songs at you, as you grab your clutch and walk out the door to meet Kevin from Finance in the lobby downstairs.

The two dates you’ve had with your coworker have been so far enjoyable- one to a beer garden on what has seemed to be the last warm fall day and the second to one of those axe throwing places with some friends- and despite the heightened atmosphere of this one, it starts off just as enjoyable with some easy conversation. Kevin from Finance orders a bottle of wine for you to split, and you commend his choice while you scan the menu for something to order.

For most of the night, you go back and forth, just crossing over what might be an acceptable line for flirting at the dinner table, but you both know where this is headed later. It was pretty clear to you in the way Kevin from Finance looked you up and down when he picked you up, in the way he caught you sneaking the same once over in return, how his eyes follow your tongue as it tries to catch a drip of wine.”

They darken as your cheeks flush and you try to distract yourself from thinking about where the evening is headed by taking another sip of wine, only to be interrupted by a surprise arrival. “YN?”

“Hey!” You greet Mat warmly, smiling up at him. “How are you?” He beams back at you, exchanging pleasantries. “What are you even doing here?” You tease. “Pretty fancy for an off day.”

“We’ve got a team thing.” He waves in the direction of the private room in back, which you had noticed was closed off for a private event, but hadn’t bothered to look into more. Maybe if you hadn’t been so distracted staring at Kevin from Finance’s biceps straining in his dress shirt, you would have noticed a couple of the Islanders starting to file in. “And you must be the guy she’s been talking about.” He sticks his hand out to Kevin from Finance. “What’s up man, I’m Mat.”

But while you’d mentioned that there was maybe a new guy to Mat, you’d never mentioned that you knew Mat to Kevin from Finance, and that becomes clear the second you look over to him. His jaw is dropped, his eyes are huge, he makes no move to shake Mat’s hand; it’s like he’s frozen. “I’m a huge fan.” Kevin from Finance manages, finally, after what feels like forever.

Mat smiles, much more trained in this kind of situation than you are, because you’re looking your date like he’s got three heads. “Always good to hear, man! Make sure you take good care of our girl, here, eh?” He pats you on the shoulder and Kevin from Finance nods, more seriously than you’ve ever seen him do anything. “I have to head in. Stop on over for a drink on your way out if you want, okay?” Again, a nod from Kevin from Finance, even as you just hmm noncommittally.

And then, things get weird. For as nice and chatty as he was before Mat stopped by, now it’s like pulling teeth when trying to get Kevin from Finance to say something. He won’t meet your eyes, instead looking between the plate that sits in front of you and the room Mat disappeared into. “Can I help you with something?” You ask, finally.

“I don’t think I can do this.” He says, shaking his head.

“What?” You snap, annoyed.

“I can’t compete with that-him!”

“I’ll make it easy for you; there’s no competition.” You say flatly.

Kevin from Finance shakes his head again. “I-you-no. There’s competition!” He stands, dropping his napkin onto the table as your jaw drops. “Sorry.”

After being fucking ghosted in the middle of your date and apologizing profusely to the wait staff for having to immediately bag up both meals (that you had to pick up the check for, these better be the best fucking meals of your life), you make your way over to the Islanders’s private room and drape yourself over Mat’s back, as best you can. “You owe me a lot of drinks, sir.”

He’s surrounded by a few teammates and wives, who all immediately burst into laughter at his protests. “How do you figure that?”

“Because my date left me here because of you!”

Mat winces. “I was perfectly pleasant!” He pauses. “Today. To that guy!”

“Sorry,” Grace bites her lip, like she’s holding back a laugh. “There have been others, that you haven’t been?”

“Well yeah, but that guy deserved it!” It’s too late; they’re all laughing again.

“This time it was your general existence.” You tell him, moving off his back, but staying close when his arm immediately reaches to wrap around your waist.

“This seems unreasonable.” Mat pouts. “That I owe you drinks just because you decided to date someone too insecure.”

“Dude, we’re not paying for anything here.” Tito reminds him. “Just give the girl her drinks.”

“I always knew I liked you best.” You smile at Tito, who returns your grin.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see if you’re saying that later when I’m the one making sure you don’t fall all over the place in those shoes.” Mat grumbles, flagging down a waiter to take your drink order.

You grin up at him. “If you keep getting me drinks and make sure I get home in these shoes, you can have your Number 1 spot back.”

Mat sighs longsufferingly, like it’s going to be such a hardship for him, even though you both know that you’re the clingiest drunk who does absolutely anything that anyone tells you to and as soon as he drops you off in bed, you’ll be out like a light. “Deal.”

It’s not quite what happens-your clinginess extends to yanking him into bed and not letting him leave- but as soon as he settles next to you and you can curl up into his side, then you’re willing to listen when he whispers, “go to sleep,” as his hand moves to play with the ends of your hair.

the third

Can’t talk now. Have a date!!! You send Mat, after ignoring his FaceTime request, and then walk into the cute little cafe that Jake from College had suggested you meet at.

“Hey!” He grins at you, as you grab a seat at the table. “Did you find the place okay?”

You bust out laughing. New to the city, Jake from College had mentioned that he lived around the corner, and was still figuring his way around. “I’ve been here a few times before actually. I’ve been here long enough to navigate my way around pretty well.” You tease.

He laughs. “Fair enough.”

After placing your orders, you catch each other up on where you’ve been and where you’re at now. You chat about some of your mutual friends, gossip about whether or not you think Jack and Mallory will actually make it down the aisle, and talk a little about your families.

“Yeah, so my brother’s frat has been-”

“Oh no.” Suddenly, Mat’s dropping into the empty chair beside you, throwing an arm around the back of yours, and there’s Tito slipping in across from him, not looking nearly as thrilled to be there. “What’s that kid up to now?”

“What are you doing here?” You ask him, ignoring his question completely.

“We were just grabbing a post-practice meal.” He says and Tito nods his agreement, but when you look across the table at him, studying his face carefully, he won’t meet your eyes.

“Okay.” You tell him, kind of annoyed that he interrupted what had been an otherwise good date. “So you’re going to grab your meals and go?”

“Well now that I know you have this big huge table…” Mat hints, and you’re all ready to tell him absolutely not, when Jake from College jumps in.

“Yeah, of course!” He says, and Mat grins. “I’d love to meet some more of YN’s friends.”

“Would you?” You mutter under your breath, dryly enough that Mat flicks your shoulder.

You don’t know what’s worse- that Mat, Tito, and Jake from College get along like a house on fire, or that after Mat and Tito show up, Jake from College barely says another word to you. Not because he’s so starstruck by their existence.

Because they’re genuinely becoming friends. By the time all four of you finish with your meals, it’s like Jake from College has forgotten you’re even at the table, caught up in discussing tennis with Tito and making plans with both of them to play basketball next weekend with a couple guys they know.

When you part ways, he barely says goodbye to you, which is a slap in the face after the bro hugs Mat and Tito both get. “Don’t be mad.” Mat says immediately, when you round on him.

“Seriously?” You glare at him.

“It was a coincidence.” He says, maybe too pushy to be entirely true, and you remember the way Tito wouldn’t meet your gaze earlier, narrowing your eyes at him further.

“Right.”

“It was!” Mat insists and you really have no way of proving it wasn’t so you just huff back at him and start walking, knowing that they’ll be catching up behind you.

the twelfth

“What happened to I’m never dating another New Yorker again?” Ashley asks, watching you get ready to go out with yet another Tinder date.

You give her a look through the mirror. “Ashley, this one might be my dream man.”

“That’s what you’ve said about them all.” She advises. “And none of them have been,”

“I’ll just die alone then.” You tell her dramatically.

She snickers. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think there’s definitely a Non-New Yorker that is very willing to date you.”

You give her a look. “Oh yeah? Send him my way?”

“Hmm.” She says. “Don’t think I’ll need to. He manages to find his own way.”

“If you’re talking about who I think you’re talking about,” You say, fluffing your hair one last time. “Then I don’t think he’s willing to date me at all.” Not willing to watch you date other people, sure, that trend has become quite clear as Mat has crashed date after date in increasingly creative ways. But never once has he made a move toward you, or tried to ramp up his flirting game to anywhere close to where you’ve seen him bring it to girls he’s interested in bringing home.

For Christ’s sake, you’ve pulled the man into bed on multiple occasions- what more does he want from you to know that you’d be interested, if he was?

Ashley returns your look, through the mirrors. “I’m certain I am talking about who you think I am, and maybe if you would do more than just pull him into bed while drunk, he might do something about it.”

You can agree to disagree on this one. There’s been that, there’s been everytime you pout at him for ruining your dates, there’s been every function or event you’ve agreed to go with him to stand by his side for the entire evening in uncomfortable shoes and an uncomfortable dress, every smile you send his way. But you’ll digress the point for now. “Well maybe tonight I’ll be pulling Graham the Perfect Man into my bed while drunk.” You stick your tongue out at her.

She grins, stepping back from your doorway so you can head out. “Use a condom!”

Upon meeting Graham the Perfect Man in one of your favorite bars (with the best burgers), you quickly realize you might actually have nailed this one. His sense of humor is impeccable and he’s incredibly charming...or at least most of the time. He’s a bit of a one-upper, but you try to be positive about it and tell yourself that he’s just trying to impress you- who isn’t on a first date?

It becomes a bit frustrating because he balances it with his humor so well. Like when you start talking about summers spent at your family’s Jersey shore house, Graham the Perfect Man casually mentions his parent’s summer home in South France, but then instantly cracks a joke about red eye flights that has you actually crying you’re laughing so hard.

“Jesus, I could hear you laughing from all the way outside.” Mat drops an arm around your shoulders and squeezes in greeting.

“Come off it, you could not.” You protest, even as he grins.

“Guess you’ll never know for real.” He teases.

“Wow, are you rude!” You huff.

“Me? You’ve been sitting here, haven’t even introduced us.” You roll your eyes, but make the introductions between Mat and Graham the Perfect Man, which actually doesn’t go terrible until someone stops and asks to take a picture with Mat, which you snap for them politely, but does bring out Graham the Perfect Man’s one-upper.

“Hockey?” He asks, and continues before Mat even has a chance to finish nodding. “Can’t say I’ve got much taste for the sport. I was a baseball player. Starting shortstop for my college.”

“But you’re not anymore.” Mat says, kinda like a dick.

“Mat!” You hiss and he just shrugs, unapologetic.

“Just the history, the nuance.” Graham the Perfect Man continues like Mat hadn’t even said anything, and even you have to fight back a laugh on that one.

Mat just shrugs again. “Yeah, alright. Cool, bro.”

“Cool, bro.” Graham the Perfect Man repeats flatly, and you know what’s going to happen before he even stands up. “Yeah, this has been fun, but…maybe...another time.” And he’s out the door, just like your dreams of this maybe happening again, so you turn to your best friend, who’s just got the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

“Mathew.” You frown at him.

“What? Come on, that guy was a tool!”

That...is so not the point. “Stop ruining all my dates!”

Mat scoffs. “All these dates with douchy guys that you don’t even like that much?”

“Yes!” You cry, absolutely done with this game. “Because unless you’re going to do something about it yourself, that’s who I’m still going to be dating.”

“What if I want to do something about it?” Mat says, looking down and avoiding your eyes.

You laugh, hollowly. “Sure, Mat. I’ll believe it when I see it.” And then you stand up from the table and walk out without him. If he’s going to ruin your dates, he can at least grab the fucking bill. He can fucking afford it.

+ one

When you don’t hear from Mat for the entire next week, you think that’s it. He talked himself up some big game, realized it’s not what he wants, and now he was trying to back out of it without making things super uncomfortable. You figured you’d hear from him in a couple weeks, when he’d send you a meme he found, and maybe you’d just never mention that thing you said about him dating you again.

Nope.

Exactly a week after you call him out, he shows up at your door with a bouquet of flowers. “Uhh hi?” You look down at your sweatpants and oversized t-shirt.

“Hi.” He presses a kiss to your cheek, as he hands the flowers to you.

“Did um-did we have plans tonight?” If he hadn’t tucked the flowers close to you, you’re pretty sure you would have dropped them, still trying to make sense of this.

Mat grins. “We do now.”

“Um.” You repeat. “Can I...change first?”

He nods. “Yep.”

“Okay.” You take a breath, starting to get your jumbled mass of thoughts together. “Where are we going?

Mat grins again. “You’ll see.”

You eye him skeptically, but he’s not budging on that, so after you find something to put your flowers in (today’s winner is...a wine bottle), you run into your room and start searching through your closet. Mat won’t give you any hints about where you’re going, fine, you’ll just have to take your hints from him.

Moving quickly so as not to keep him waiting too long, you settle on a pair of jeans, booties, and your favorite sweater. A quick brush through your hair and a couple swipes of makeup and you deem it good enough. It’s certainly as good as it’s going to get since someone didn’t give you time to shower.

Mat smiles though, as soon as you walk back in, throwing things into the clutch you plan on carrying with you that night, but he doesn’t say anything or do anything or even move at first. “Are you ready yet?” You tease, standing at the door.

His cheeks flush a little, caught staring, but he jogs over toward you, while nodding. “Yeah, let’s go.” As soon as you lock the door, he’s slipping his hand into yours, merely smiling when you look up at him questioningly.

“Now will you tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope.” Mat grins, tugging your hand to pull you to the right.

“Come on, really?” But he stands firm, instead asking you something about your day, which lasts all the way until he pulls you into your favorite restaurant, laughing when you realize it’s the end point.

Dinner is amazing and the speakeasy he leads you to afterwards for drinks is as well. You spend half the time grinning at the place around you, wondering how he managed to find someplace so cool and then backtracking that thought, because, yeah, of course, he did.

Mat’s smiling at you when you look back at him, eyes never leaving you, it seems, as he swirls his drink around in his glass. “You look happy.”

“I am happy.” You tell him honestly, which only widens his smile.

“So you’d be happy to do this again?”

“Do what again?” You ask, feigning innocence, solely to mess with him. “I don’t actually recall you ever asking me to do this in the first place.”

He throws his head back in a laugh, that big one he’s got that you love. “Can I take you out sometime?”

You nod, smiling as he leans across the table toward you. “I suppose it’s too late to say no.”

“Can I take you out all of the time?” He reaches out for your cheek, brushing his thumb along it.

“Well you do owe me a lot of meals.” You tease. This might better than any date he’s ruined, but you’re not about to let him off that easy.

“I’m sure I can work something out with you.” He mutters, practically right up against your lips, before kissing you completely.

#mat barzal imagine #mat barzal fan fic #mat barzal fanfiction #hockey imagines #hockey fanfiction #nhl imagines #nhl fanfiction #my hockey fics

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the-cult-of-russo · 3 years

Text

Push and Pull (Part 16) (first half)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OC

A/N: So I had to split this chapter into two posts because it was so long it exceed the text limit lmao but I'm not making it two separate chapters because it would mess up the chapter numbers. I'm posting the next half right after this, so don't worry 😉

Warnings: cursing, angst

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She spent the day relaxing and ended up having a long soak in the bath. She put a few drops of lavender and ylang-ylang oil in for good measure. Her body was sore from everything recently and she was enjoying the moment of peace. She wondered how essential oils affected Matt. They had numerous effects on normal people, lavender being calming and ylang-ylang causing an aphrodisiac effect. She wondered if it affected Matt stronger than normal. Maybe that would be his downfall. A bunch of lavender to knock out Daredevil. The thought made her chuckle.

After a long well deserved soak, she washed her hair and even conditioned it for good measure. With the weather getting warmer and all the physical activity she'd been doing recently, her waves were getting dry and frizzy. Once she was done, she got dried and dressed in her pyjamas for now. Leaving her hair down to dry naturally. She wouldn't bother getting ready until Karen was here to help her. She was actually a little excited about having a girl come over. Brett had been her only friend for the longest time and that was only in a work context. Then there was Foggy. But it wasn't the same as having a girl friend and she'd forgotten what that felt like. The closest being when her sister was close by. She was looking forward to the change of pace.

Hours later, Karen turned up. She looked pretty in a dark green swing dress, her hair slightly curled and pinned to one side. Daphne could see why Foggy was smitten with her. They'd gotten along better than she expected, chatting up a storm, even if some of it was lies on her behalf since she wasn't really going on a date.

"Oh! I love this one. Try this one on!" Karen gushed, pulling out a black dress from the closet. It was on the shorter side and was the kind of dress that clung to her in all the right places. The top part was lacey, like a bralette, the pattern intricate enough that she could get away with it without a bra. Then it turned into a black smooth cotton with the same black lace overlaid on top of it. It was one of her favourites if she was honest. It cinched in her small waist and made her ass and boobs look fantastic.

After getting herself inside of it, she looked in the mirror. Her hair and make-up hadn't been done yet but she forgot how good she looked in this one.

"Damn. I'd never pull something like that off," Karen grinned from beside her at the mirror. She wasn't wrong. It wasn't the look so much as the vibe it gave off. Karen suited better to prettier things and that wasn't a bad thing.

"I think you look beautiful. Foggy's gonna fall head over heels when he sees you," Daphne smiled warmly as she turned to look at her. Karen blushed heavily and it only made her smile more how much she was clearly into Foggy.

"Thanks. What about Matt though? Like you said, he might not be able to see but he just senses these things. His jaw's gonna fall to the floor like in a cartoon," Karen giggled. Daphne bit her lip with a smirk. She sat down and allowed Karen to mess with her hair as she did her own makeup. She was handy with the stuff when she needed to be but she didn't really like how it felt on her face. She opted to forgo foundation which was the devil in her opinion and instead just framed her eyes with a more natural light smokey eye, winged liner and tonnes of mascara. She then painted her lips with a matte brown colour. She finished the look with one of her silver necklaces. It was a choker style necklace but delicate looking. The thin silver chain wrapped around her neck and had a little crescent moon charm dangling off it.

"I keep wanting to try these ones. I hate when my lipstick just vanishes when I eat or drink," Karen mused as she looked through the make up bag, holding up one of the same types of liquid lipsticks Daphne had put on herself.

"You should try one," she suggested. Karen looked excited, sitting down on the bed next to her and looking in the small mirror they'd propped up against the headboard.

It gave Daphne a moment to admire her hair. Karen had complemented her hair immensely to the point it made her blush. She’d always thought of her hair as more of a nuisance because she couldn't be bothered to do anything with it. Karen wanted to keep it mostly down, saying she was in love with the purple waves. She’d pinned half of it up in some intricate twists that to Daphne honestly seemed like witchcraft to achieve. It looked good though. Some waves framing her face and the twists at the crown of her head. The rest of her hair cascaded past her shoulders.

"What do you think?" Karen asked, her voice filled with uncertainty. Daphne glanced at her, smiling with a nod. Karen had picked a deep pink colour that complemented her skin tone and her dress.

"I love it! You should keep that one. It doesn't suit me at all but it looks really good on you," she urged. Karen blinked at her for a moment before smiling shyly, tucking it away in her purse.

They both took a moment to admire themselves in the bigger mirror before they grabbed their purses and left. Daphne felt weird walking in heels again. She typically opted for wedges in situations like these because at least she could walk fine in those. Her black simple wedges made her dress stand out more and Karen had to spend five minutes convincing her to leave her hoodie behind and wear her fitted leather jacket instead. She knew her hoodie ruined the look but the comfort it brought her had her whining as Karen pulled her out of the door.

They took a cab, neither of them wanting to walk in heels to the restaurant and get blisters. They sat in the back and Karen pulled out her phone.

"Oh no. We're ten minutes late," she muttered fretfully.

"Fashionably late," Daphne smirked, causing the blonde to giggle a little. She could really tell that Karen was excited for this and she felt less bad about lying if it meant being the catalyst for her and Foggy to finally take this step forward. She was excited herself but for very different reasons. She couldn't wait for the food and drink and to try and see how much she could push Matt when he had to behave like this. She wouldn't go too far, not wanting him to ruin the date for the two people actually on a real one.

When the cab pulled up outside of EnchiNada, Daphne pulled some notes from her purse and paid the driver before Karen had the chance. Karen gave her a look but she ignored it. She did just get a huge deposit from her new wealthy client after all. She brought the money not knowing if Foggy would even have enough to pay for all her drinks. She wasn't sure if Matt would throw a tantrum and ruin it since he was so unpredictable, and she'd feel bad if she caused him to ruin the night. If it was genuinely her fault then she'd happily pay for all of them as a way of saying sorry to Foggy. She just hoped Matt wasn't a dick, even when she annoyed him on purpose. He deserved it after how he'd been acting lately. She could have paid for her own meal anyway but Foggy roped her into this and if it went well then she expected that payment.

They stepped out and Daphne glanced at Karen. She looked ridiculously nervous and it made her smile. Foggy and Karen would be adorable together.

"Ready?" She asked softly. Karen looked at her and nodded stiffly, allowing Daphne to link her arm with hers. Daphne hoped it helped ease her anxiety a little.

"How aren't you nervous right now?" She whispered, panicked as they walked through the entrance.

"It's the dress," Daphne smirked playfully. Karen giggled and glanced around before quirking a brow at her.

"You're not kidding. I think every guy just stopped to stare at you," she muttered with a light laugh. She was catching a lot of eyes.

Her own green orbs swept the restaurant and landed on the two people she was looking for sat near the back. Matt was already looking in their direction and she saw him say something to Foggy who then also looked over before looking ready to pass out from nerves. Foggy was wearing a white shirt and no doubt dress pants, his hair combed back a bit. Matt was wearing a black button down shirt with no tie like he would in his lawyer mode. The top buttons were undone and his sleeves rolled up a little. His glasses weren't on but she presumed they'd be close by and she could see his cane resting on the table. He cleaned up nicely honestly. She wasn't surprised.

The restaurant itself was beautiful. It was dimly lit and there were fairy lights strung all around the walls. Numerous pieces of Mexican art but not too much. The ambience was nice and chill with some Mexican music playing very quietly in the background. It was packed full of people, chatting and eating and having a good time.

"There they are," Daphne whispered, gesturing to where the boys were. Karen took a shaky breath as they walked arm in arm to the table.

"Ladies! I didn't expect you to come together, and late too. I mean just a little. I'm not complaining," Foggy rambled nervously as he stood to greet them, Matt standing too to be polite.

"We had some girl time and got ready together," Karen replied shyly. Foggy reached out and gave Daphne a hug and Karen and Matt exchanged a quick hug.

"You look… I mean… wow," Foggy mumbled and shyly kissed Karen on the cheek. Daphne was too busy watching the cutest couple in the world with a dopey smile on her face and jumped a little when she felt Matts lips on her own cheek. She should have known since they were on a ‘date’. It needed to look real.

"You look breathtaking," he whispered, his voice low and making her belly clench. She moved away and looked up at him, his eyes unfocused on her face as his lips quirked up in a sly smirk. So he planned on pushing her buttons too. Game on. She was aware of Karen glancing at them curiously.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she smiled up at him, running her hand up his chest. She felt him tense and watched his adams apple bob as he swallowed. He lowered his head, pulling her seat out for her. She smirked to herself as she sat and noticed Foggy practically mimicking his best friend, watching what he was doing before he pulled out Karen's chair. It was like watching a little brother copy his older brother. It was cute.

While they waited for the server to come by with the menu, she glanced at the couple sitting opposite her and Matt. They both seemed really nervous and clearly didn't know how to break the ice. It wasn't like they never spent time with each other; they were friends. But the prospect of the date seemed to have them both acting like they'd never met. She decided to help out. Familiar ground to help them ease back into being around each other, even if it was a different context.

"So Karen, what's it like working for these two? Honestly, I'd tear my hair out," she snorted with a warm smile. Karen looked relieved, tension leaving her shoulders and Daphne was pretty sure she knew what she was doing because she shot her a grateful look.

"It's good. I really love it there. Sometimes I wanna smack their heads together, but it's fun," she grinned.

"Yeah but, not me right? I mean smack Matt's head all day long, I get it, but not mine," Foggy huffed playfully. Karen laughed, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Does that mean I get to smack your head? I think I'd really enjoy that," Matt smirked. Just as she hoped it set them into some easy small talk and then the server popped up and placed the menus on the table.

Daphne looked at them and frowned, not even thinking when she looked up at the young man serving them with a raised brow.

"Do you have one in braille?" She asked carefully. The server looked to Matt then and looked somewhat bashful.

"We don't, I'm sorry," he muttered. Foggy looked like he was about to open his mouth and he had a grumpy look on his face. Daphne was anticipating one of his rants about establishments and how they don't care about blind people, he'd done it before when swapping life stories with her. She didn't want him to ruin the mood of the date.

"You know what? It's fine. I can read it to him," she shot the waiter a smile and he nodded before scurrying off.

"I swear, one of these days-" Foggy started grumbling, getting promptly cut off by Daphne.

"Hey, it just gives me an excuse to kick up the romance, right?" She asked him pointedly. Trying to give him a huge hint. Realization dawned on his face then and he nodded, glancing at Karen with a sheepish smile.

"I can read it to you too… if you wanted?" Karen asked Foggy shyly. He looked flustered for a moment before grinning with a nod. These two, seriously.

She scooted her chair closer to Matt who had been silent through the whole thing. He was probably used to it all by now.

"Ready?" She asked softly. She wasn't going to be an asshole with this part. He couldn't actually read the menu, she wasn't that much of a bitch.

"Yeah… thanks," he murmured in response. She picked up the menu before listing off what they had, keeping her voice quiet as the other couple did the same. Once again, the pair seemed to follow their example, bringing their chairs closer together. It was quite intimate and it was sweet.

"I think I'm gonna have the enchiladas. They sound so good," Daphne mused when she’d read it all out.

"I think that sounds good for me too," he replied. He seemed high strung tonight for some reason, she kept seeing him do his head tilt thing and clench his fists. Something was annoying him and she hadn't even started yet. He moved away from her a little as she set the menus down and the server came over and took their orders.

"And for drinks?" The guy asked politely.

"Uh… just a beer for me," Foggy requested.

"And me," Matt said with a nod.

"A bottle of tequila sounds good," Daphne said, shooting a sly smirk at Foggy when he looked at her shocked. Didn't expect that did you?

"Oh, I've never tried tequila before," Karen mused.

"Share it with me. It's so good," Daphne grinned. Karen nodded as the man wrote their order down.

"I see you're a woman with exceptional taste," he commented casually with a glance at Daphne. Matt sat up straighter and cleared his throat causing the waiter to look back down before leaving to place their order.

"Wow, it really is the dress," Karen giggled to her, making her snort.

"What does it look like?" Matt piped up, looking for all intents and purposes like a curious blind man even though she knew better.

"Well it's-" Daphne started, her mouth clamping shut when he held up a hand and shook his head. He turned his head to the couple across the table.

"I'd like to hear it from them. We all know how modest you are, Daphne, I want to know what it really looks like," he flashed her a sly grin and she had no idea what he was doing but she rolled with it. At Matt's expectant gaze, Foggy's mouth floundered.

"I… uh… Karen?" He asked, shooting her a pleading look. Maybe he was scared of saying anything nice when he was on a date with someone else. It was hilarious. Karen snorted and shook her head at him, glancing back to Daphne and then Matt.

"It's a black. The top part is lace. It's a really pretty design on it. Then the rest is a black lace overlaying black fabric. She's got a great body so it clings her to her in all the right places," Karen shot her a cheeky grin and she hated that she blushed from it. Karen was obviously trying to butter up her 'date' for her. If only she knew.

"It sounds beautiful," Matt murmured, glancing back at her still playing his little act.

She decided to play his game and gently took one of his hands.

"Here, you can feel it," she smiled, fluttering her lashes at him even though he couldn't see. Her hand was holding his and she rested it on her collar bone where the lace tapered off into a strap. His finger trailed along and upwards, not about to touch her breasts in front of everyone, and trailed down the back where it was much safer to do so. His touch was feather light and touched her skin as they slid down the strap. She felt her stomach clench as he did it, rousing goosebumps on her skin. A quick side glance caught a devilish smirk on his face, he was doing it on purpose. His fingers trailed further and came to more lace and his hand continued to where it turned into the rest of the dress.

"Okay, Jeez, no heavy petting at the table," Foggy whined. Matt moved his hand with a chuckle as Karen burst out laughing at his outburst.

"Hey, man. I'm blind. I see with these," Matt smirked, wiggling his fingers and making his friend groan in annoyance. Karen seemed to find the whole thing amusing though. Daphne was feeling a little flustered and was more than happy when the drinks were put down. The bottle of tequila was set in the middle with four shot glasses. Of course they'd presume it was for all of them. She guessed she didn't mind sharing some of it. The boys had their beers placed in front of them too.

"Yes!" Daphne grinned, swiping the bottle greedily before starting to pour four shots. She set them out in front of them all.

"Drink up," she smirked.

"I don't think that's a good-" Matt started, she shot him a look.

"Really? You wanna be the Debbie downer of this party, Matthew?" She asked with a sigh.

"Yeah, Matt. Come onnnn," Foggy pleaded.

"It'll be fun," Karen grinned in a sing-song voice.

"I hope you know this is peer pressure," he relented, grabbing the shot glass.

"To double dates!" Foggy grinned. Daphne almost laughed. They all slammed their shots down and Foggy made a ridiculous noise with shudder.

"Don't be such a baby," Daphne laughed at him.

"Wow that was strong," Karen murmured.

"That's why it's my favourite. One time I got so drunk off this stuff, I woke up on a fishing boat," she snorted, licking her lower lip. Karen and Foggy burst out laughing as Matt looked at her incredulously.

"How?" Was all he managed to get out.

"Honestly no idea. One minute I'm drinking and the next I wake up on a boat full of old dudes that don't speak a lick of English. They were good to me though. Fed me some instant noodles before sending on my way," she grinned at the memory, pouring herself another shot.

"That's insane! How old were you?" Karen asked curiously.

"Around 19. My parents chewed me out so bad for that because I missed college," she rolled her eyes, settling back in her chair. She’d only had one shot but the warmth bloomed in her chest and she enjoyed it.

"College? You never told me you went to college," Foggy complained. He sounded so offended and she laughed. Karen gave him a grin, shaking her head at him.

"Well I mean, I dropped out so it didn't feel worth mentioning," she shrugged.

"Foggy's gonna cry about this for a week now. He loves to know every little bit of his friends' lives," Matt teased with a grin. Foggy flipped him off making the girls giggle.

"What did you study?" Karen asked. She genuinely sounded interested and Daphne shifted in her seat a little.

"Photography," she explained.

"Of course!" Foggy said dramatically.

"That's where it all started, huh?" Matt asked with a smirk.

"I bet you were a real wild child. I bet the tequila story is nothing for you," Karen grinned at her.

"Are you telling me you never rebelled at all?" She quipped back playfully.

"I guess I did," Karen replied. She was smiling but there was an inflection in her voice. There was something there Karen didn't want to talk about so she decided not to press.

"You heard this, Matt. We scored a couple of bad girls. What kind of lawyers are we?" Foggy asked, acting disappointed in himself. Matt barked a laugh and she giggled when Karen slapped Foggy's arm.

"Right, I bet you two were little angels in college," Karen teased.

"We partied a bit but never anything crazy," Foggy defended.

"Honestly I didn't party too much. Not a big people person," Daphne defended with a grin.

"Shocker," Matt murmured next to her. She squinted at him as Foggy snorted.

"I mostly got in trouble for fights," she shrugged.

"Fights like real fights?" Foggy asked, sounding surprised.

"I had issues with using my fists and not my words. I was never actually good at fighting but it's amazing what you can do if you're pissed off enough," she murmured.

"Were they critiquing your people skills?" Matt asked dryly.

"It's like you want me to punch you," she commented with a sweet smile.

"I'd like to see you try, sweetheart," he smirked, raising a brow. She made a mental note to try and kick his ass next training session. Karen seemed to take their banter as flirting and gave her a look as if she thought the date was going well.

Soon enough the food was at their table and Daphne was loving it. She wanted to come here at some point on her own. They'd been making casual small talk and the night had actually been going really well. She hadn't even fucked with Matt too much as she kept getting distracted by the drink, amazing food and actually good conversation.

"So I have to ask, how did you two meet?" Karen smiled glancing between Daphne and her fake date. She should have known this was coming. Foggy choked on his food a bit and Karen looked at him worried before smacking his back a little.

"We met at the precinct, just kinda crossed paths I guess," she shrugged with a grin.

"She had that bad attitude and I couldn't resist," Matt smirked. She rolled her eyes at him and the others laughed.

"Daphne told me you've been training her. Helping her defend herself," Karen mused, just making conversation.

"Yeah. She's actually doing really good. She's a fast learner," he actually sounded sincere and she couldn't help glowing with the praise.

"I can't even imagine how scary that must have been for you though. What that guy did… and now he's awake again," Karen said with a furrowed brow. Daphne stilled completely, her head whipping from one person at the table to the other. Matt grimaced, looking down at the table and Foggy looked like he'd seen a ghost. Karen glanced at them before her eyes widened a little.

"Wait. You- you guys didn't tell her?" She asked hesitantly. Daphne's heart went into overdrive and she hated how those simple words had an effect on her. But she was also more bothered by the betrayal she felt at no one telling her.

"He's awake and you guys just didn't think it was important to tell me?" Her voice was tight and higher pitched than normal and she saw Foggy deflate as if realising he and Matt had ruined the date. She released then just how much Foggy meant to her because she felt bad. She didn't want Karen's association with the date to be a bad one because then she might not have a second one with him.

"You know what, it's fine. Let's not even think about that right now. Let's just enjoy the night," she plastered a smile on her face with force as she grabbed the bottle and poured herself another shot and drank it in one.

"Are you sure?" Karen started carefully. She hated the pity she saw in her eyes.

"Mhm. I don't want it to ruin the date," the word date felt like acid in her mouth as she tried to push back the burning betrayal and dose of anxiety all the way down. She gave her another smile and it seemed to do the trick. Foggy gave her a look that was relief mixed with pure guilt and she looked away.

"I think we should get dessert," Karen said after a moment to diffuse the tension.

"Good idea! We'll go up and order it. You guys want anything?" Foggy asked, standing up so fast his chair almost tipped over.

"No, I'm good thanks," Matt muttered.

"The fudge cake seems good. But can I have it to go so I can eat it later?" She asked politely. So she could eat it in bed tonight when she lost sleep over the mess that the night turned out to be. Karen smiled as she ushered Foggy away and they walked to the counter across the way.

"Daphne," Matt started softly.

"Don't," she bit out with pure anger. She grabbed the bottle but Matt swiped it from her easily and set it back down. The pure need to drink was overwhelming her and she could feel her heart thumping against her ribs.

"I think you've had enough," he scolded lightly. She looked at him with such fury that he recoiled even though he couldn't see it.

"You know what I've had enough of? Lies, people turning out to be shitty. Keeping important things from me," she hissed. She could feel her blood pressure rising with each word and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Come on. Let's get some air," he said firmly, standing up and reaching for her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to stand and she swayed a little from the alcohol and the anxiety making her head rush.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Foggy asked, confused as he came back to the table Karen in tow after they'd placed the orders.

"Just need some air," Matt murmured, not even sparing them a glance as he ‘watched’ her. They must have seen her anxiety because they just nodded as they sat. Matt led her outside and off to the side out of the way.

"You know, I'd expect this from you, but from Foggy? And Brett? Why didn't Brett call me the second that piece of shit woke up?" She yelled, not caring if people heard her. Matt didn't have his glasses on and his hazel eyes burned into her as he frowned.

"It was me. We only found out because we were with Brett when he got the call. I suggested we wait to tell you and asked Brett to keep it quiet too," he sighed regretfully.

"Why?" Her voice was pained and he grimaced, taking a step towards her.

"What good would it do? If I told you earlier when I found out, all that would have done was make you panic sooner. And you were so set on coming here and helping Foggy out and I didn't want you to just lock yourself away," he explained.

"I like Karen, I really do and I think there's potential to be friends, but do you know what a slap in the face it is to have someone's who's practically a stranger tell me?" She was upset, more than upset and her brain was a pile of mush as she tried to sort through it.

"If I knew this would happen, I would have told you sooner. But it doesn't change anything. He's awake now and there's nothing you could have done differently to change what's happening," he placated.

She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Not now and not in front of him. She regretted drinking now as it always made her a little more emotional.

"I just want it to end," she lamented.

"I get it, and it will," he soothed. She scoffed and shook her head incredulously.

"You don't get it though, Matt. He got in my head! He messed me up so bad that I barely slept because I didn't want to deal with the nightmares. They finally stopped after we slept together and now they're gonna come back and I'm just gonna drown in the fucking anxiety!" She raged, swinging her arms around wildly as she swayed slightly.

"With all the evidence you have on him, he's going away for life. And I'm not gonna sit here and pretend to know what it's like… what you went through. But I know a thing or two about trauma and nightmares and they get better. Yeah, he's awake, but soon he'll live his life in a cell and be far away from you," he pressed. She bit down on her lower lip to stop it from trembling. Her eyes prickling with tears she was fighting away. That overwhelming helpless feeling had returned along with flashes of Mr Lee's dead body on the floor.

"Matt… you're a lawyer but you're also a vigilante. You can't stand there and tell me that justice always gets served," she hissed quietly, keeping her voice to a minimum. He looked frustrated as he tilted his head looking in her direction.

"I know it doesn't. Believe me I do. But I still try to have faith in the system. This should be an open and shut case. The stuff you have on him will be enough to convince a jury and he'll be gone. And if by some miracle he gets out, I'll keep you safe," he sounded almost desperate and she wanted to believe him.

"Right, what are you gonna do, camp out on my fire escape every night to make me feel safe?" She scoffed bitterly.

"If I have to," he stated firmly. She blinked at him for a moment but her brain was too much of a mess to deal with whatever this was.

"I… I can't sit there in court and face him, Matt. I don't know if I can do it," she whispered brokenly. She hated feeling weak. It had been a rare occurrence in her life and she relished feeling in control. But her attack had flipped her upside down with that and she hated how badly it bothered her. People out there lived through worse things and she was still hung up on this. It made her feel small and stupid.

"You can do this. You're one of the most headstrong, stubborn people I've ever met. You want to bury this whole thing? Then you go to court and tell them what a monster he is. Tell your truth. Mr Lee's truth. Get justice," he said forcefully as he rested his hands on her shoulders. It was pretty motivational, she wouldn't lie. She'd never seen him in court but she bet he was a great lawyer.

She blew out a breath, reigning herself in. Panicking was getting her nowhere and there was truth to Matt's words. She wanted to have faith in the system but after everything she saw with Fisk, it was hard to. But she did have a lot of evidence and she herself was a victim and witness. It would be a good case. Once again it would just be a waiting game and she hated it. The thought of looking at that asshole in the eye made her stomach clench with fear. But she needed to take back that control and maybe that was the only way to do it.

"I uh… always seem to become a mess when you're around," she snorted self deprecatingly as she sniffled. She wrapped her arms around herself as Matt released his hold on her. The night air was a little chilly and she'd left her coat inside.

"I have that effect on people," he teased and she smiled at him.

"Thanks, I guess… for the pep talk. We should get inside," she mumbled awkwardly. She let her guard down around him too many times to be comfortable with it. He'd seen her vulnerable a few times now and it made her feel weird. She didn't like it.

"Right. Back to the double date," he smirked, shaking his head.

"I hope it's going well. It seems like it right?" She asked him as they got to the door. She opened it and he took her arm and it looked like she was leading him.

"I'd say so," he grinned, gesturing with his head. She looked over and saw Karen and Foggy sat close together, smiling and talking to each other. She felt a pang of envy watching them. She glanced at Matt as they made their way through the make of tables and people but his head was already tilted in her direction.

"What?" She asked softly.

"Nothing," he muttered, turning away from her again. Weird, but nothing new for him.

They finally reached the table and the pair smiled widely at them. She smiled back as they sat down. They had empty plates in front of them from dessert and in her place was a box.

"How was the cake?" Daphne asked.

"Amazing. The best cake ever," Foggy beamed, looking at Karen every so often like he couldn't take his eyes off her.

"It was. I think you'll really like it," Karen agreed with a warm smile. She really did like the woman and it would be nice to add to her new collection of friends. Something she never thought she'd want.

Karen excused herself to go to the restroom and Foggy watched her go with a love sick smile on his face.

"Going well?" She asked him. His eyes dropped to her then and be flushed with a nod.

"Better than I hoped. And I know things went a little… ass upwards at the end but I really appreciate you guys doing this for me. And I'm sorry, Daph," he frowned. He looked like a wounded puppy.

"It's fine. We ready cleared it up," Matt murmured, reaching over and patting Foggy’s arm with a smile.

"So… I really wanna walk her home. You know, get some one on one time, talk a little. Make the night last a little longer. But I'm just so…blegh ," he made a swirly motion with his hands and Matt chuckled.

"I've got your back, dude. You both seem to be taking cues from us all night. I think she's as 'blegh' as you are," Daphne teased, making the same hand gesture he did.

"I've not been taking cues from you two!" He defended with a pout.

"You really kinda have been," Matt snorted.

"You're the little brother mimicking his big brother," Daphne grinned. Foggy threw his napkin at her with a playful huff as they all laughed.

"Oh my god, I've been taking cues from a fake couple on a fake date. What is wrong with me?" Foggy whined.

"You're just nervous and want to make sure it goes right, there's nothing wrong with that," Matt smiled at him. It was kind of nice seeing Matt be a decent human to his best friend.

"Thanks, man," Foggy said sincerely. A truly touching moment.

Karen came back after a moment and Daphne glanced at Matt, acting mask in place. She leaned into him a little and smiled, watching his confused face turn to her.

"It's nice outside. I think we should walk back to your place, see the stars and all that. That sounds nice, right?" She asked sweetly. Matt seemed to follow her lead as he shot her a smile he'd never given her before. She wondered how many ladies had been on the receiving end of it.

"Of course," he said softly, lacing her hand that was on the table with his. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed it. A little over the top but he seemed to sell it well as Karen grinned at them. Daphne would deny until her last breath that her heart fluttered when he did it.

"That does sound nice actually," Karen murmured shyly, glancing at Foggy. Foggy quickly shot Daphne a look that she could only interpret as a mental high five before he looked back at the blonde.

"Sounds great," he grinned at her. It was kind of adorable how neither of them knew what to do and seemed to be following hers and Matt's lead, she started wondering just how far she could take it. How many seeds she could plant to get them to make a move on each other. She also felt kind of weird to know just how closely the other pair was watching them. She was very aware she had to stay in character for this to work. Maybe she had too much tequila for her to be overthinking this so much.

They all stood, Matt grabbing his cane and his glasses. He went to put them on but Daphne stopped him, her hand clasping around his.

"Leave them off. I like your eyes," she murmured, her other hand reaching up to his face. His eyes fluttered shut and he swallowed thickly as her fingertips teased his eyelids. She faintly heard a murmured 'aw' from Karen and she inwardly smirked. She removed her hand and he opened his eyes. It was weird how he seemed to look right at her even though he couldn't. He gave her a small smile and nod, slipping his glasses into his pocket.

She laced her hands with his and he used his cane as they navigated their way out. Karen and Foggy behind them. Once they got outside, she noticed the pair also holding hands. Matt's lips quirked up and she knew he knew it too. The four of them stopped on the sidewalk, about to go separate ways.

"It's been really fun guys," Daphne said warmly. She meant it too. Apart from the hiccup she'd actually had a good time. Fake date or not.

"We should do this again sometime," Karen said eagerly. Her cheeks flushed red at her words and she glanced at Foggy like he was going to say no to another date. But Foggy had a dopey grin on his face that he couldn't even hide. She didn't want to say anything about how her and Matt weren't really dating. That was something they'd figure out another time. Foggy could tell her it hadn't worked out and that was that. But they could still all hang out. Foggy and Karen as a couple with her and Matt as 'not really friends but sometimes okay with each other'.

(Continued in next post)

#matt murdock x oc #matt murdock fanfic #matt murdock #daredevil x oc #daredevil fanfiction #daredevil

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bellakitse · 4 years

Text

Okay, Cupid

While hiding in the bathroom from the worst online date of his life and trying to find a way out of it, Carlos Reyes meets a beautiful man with green eyes who convinces him to escape the restaurant together.

Written for Lone Star Week Day 3 - Alternate Universe (AU)

He’s hiding in the bathroom.

He, Carlos Reyes, an Austin Police Officer, is hiding in the bathroom stall of a very nice Italian restaurant from a genuinely horrible online date, and he needs to call his best friend to scream at her since really it’s all her fault. He informs her of this the second she answers her phone. Forgetting his manners, he doesn’t bother with even a hello.

“Try online dating, Carlos. What’s the worst that could happen, Carlos. You’re going to end up old, alone and with a dozen cats, Carlos,” he throws back at her the mocking words she said to him a few days ago.

“What’s the worst that could happen, Michelle? Well, I could be on a date with someone who is obviously a fan of Jeffrey Dahmer. At least if I die and my future cats eat my face, it’s for survival, not because they have a fetish,” he hisses at her.

There is silence on the other side of the phone for a second before she speaks. “Hello to you too,” she starts dryly with a hint of laughter, causing Carlos to roll his eyes at her tone. “I take it the date is going well.”

“Sure,” he shoots back sarcastically. If she thinks she’s going to out bitch him, she has another thing coming.

“Let’s see, where to start – ” he pauses for effect. “How about that he looks nothing like his picture. It’s not catfishing but close enough, or how about that he barely blinks when he looks at me. I counted to forty-five before his eyes actually shut for a millisecond,” he tells her, letting out a full-body shake as he remembers the creepy stare.

“Or how about the heavy breathing thing he does when he’s talking about how soft my skin looks,” he continues, his voice going higher. “Obviously, I have found my soulmate, and I’m calling you to let you know I’m eloping to Vegas.”

“Congratulations, I wish you endless happiness,” Michelle shoots back, and this time there isn’t just a hint of amusement in her voice, the laughter is clear.

“I hate you; this is all your fault, and I’m never listening to you again,” he hisses back at her, rolling his eyes when it does nothing to stop her from laughing. If anything, it sets her off even more.

“If he’s really that weird, then bail.”

He opens his mouth to yell at her some more. She’s the one that’s been nagging him about wasting his youth, telling him he needs to find someone. He doesn’t have cats, but he doesn’t see what’s so wrong with having some. He hears another snicker and realizes with embarrassment that it’s not coming from his phone and his supposed best friend, but from outside his bathroom stall.

“Michelle, hold on a sec,” he says quietly. He opens the door of the stall to find a man by the sink counter, leaning against it with a grin on his face.

“Sorry,” the stranger says with a smile that contradicts his apology. Carlos takes him in, his fit build, his artfully tousled hair, stunning green eyes, and a gorgeous face.

“Michelle, I’ll call you back,” he mumbles, ending the call.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, really,” he continues, the smile on his face is friendly for a moment before turning wicked. “Or to laugh at the fact that you’re obviously out with a serial killer that will probably try to make a skin suit out of you before the night is over.”

Carlos shivers at the mental image the words evoke. “Fucking hell, thanks for the lifetime of nightmares, mean stranger.”

“TK,” he introduces himself, the grin never leaving his face. “And to be fair, if my prediction is right, it won’t be a very long lifetime.”

“Carlos,” he answers back dryly, a hint of amusement flickering inside him even if it’s at his own expense. “Let me guess; you’re a motivational speaker, because I gotta say this conversation is going great.”

TK lets out a delighted laugh, and Carlos takes in how it makes his already pretty face even more stunning; he can feel the corners of his mouth tick upward against his will.

“No, but it’s nice to know if I want a career change – ” TK trails off with a grin. “I’m a firefighter, recently moved here from New York.”

Carlos raises an eyebrow at the fellow first responder. “Austin Police, at your service.”

“You’re a cop,” TK exclaims, his green eyes widening. “Then what are you so worried about, just arrest the weirdo.”

“I can’t arrest someone for being creepy,” Carlos argues, rolling his eyes. “The prisons would be full if that was the case. Not to mention none of my buddies would ever let me live it down if I’m so weirded out by my date I bring him in.”

TK snickers softly, raising his hands when Carlos gives him a dirty look. “Is it really that bad? At least your date showed up; mine didn’t even do that.”

“You got stood up?” Carlos questions in shock. “Who would stand you up? Look at you.”

Carlos feels his cheeks heat up as TK raises an eyebrow at him, the hint of a satisfied smirk on his face at Carlos’ unintentional compliment.

“I don’t know; I was supposed to be on a blind date. I had a rose on my table so he could know who I am. We were supposed to meet an hour ago,” TK shrugs, unconcerned. “Maybe he came in, took one look at me and bailed.”

“Not possible,” Carlos blurts out, unable to help himself. He blushes hard, but it’s worth it for the way it makes TK smile, this time a little softer.

They stay quiet for a moment, neither sure what to say. Carlos knows he can’t stay in the bathroom much longer. His date is waiting outside, probably more than ready to get to the part of the night where he moisturizes Carlos’ body before he uses it.

Carlos shudders again at the thought. Jesus, he really doesn’t want to go back out there.

“Ditch him,” TK says suddenly like he can read his mind.

Carlos opens his mouth to argue, that wouldn’t be kind, right?

“I know it’s not necessarily nice,” TK continues quickly before he can speak, and Carlos is starting to really wonder if the guy can read his mind. “But you’re a cop, which means you listen to your gut. So what does your gut say?”

Carlos chews on his bottom lip as he thinks about what TK has just asked. Chances are he’s overreacting, and his date isn’t a crazy person, if he genuinely thought he was, he wouldn’t be thinking of him as a date but a perp. But he freaks Carlos out enough that everything inside him is screaming to leave.

Then there’s TK – he’s been in the bathroom with the guy for less than ten minutes, and he’s had more fun bantering with him than he has had all night, or any night in a long time.

It’s not nice, it’s downright rude, but his heart is already pounding with excitement before he even gets the words out.

“Come with me,” he blurts out, his hands sweating when TK raises an eyebrow at him in surprise. “You said your idiot date stood you up,” he pushes on quickly. “And that you recently moved to Austin, right?”

TK nods slowly at him; there is a hint of a smile on his face that encourages Carlos to continue.

“Well, if you haven’t been here long, then you probably don’t know Lupita’s Tacos over on Walker,” he tells him with a grin. “Her tacos are a religious experience; even racists don’t complain about Mexicans after they try them.”

TK lets out a snort, his eyes dancing with amusement. “Well damn, that’s one hell of a sale pitch, how can I say no to tacos that can solve racism.”

“You can’t,” Carlos answers, grinning, excited in a way he hasn’t been in the longest time. “So, are you in?”

TK bites down on his lip, but it does nothing to diminish his smile. “Hell yeah.”

“Great,” Carlos answers happily, letting out a breath before he starts planning their next move. “Now, to get out of here without Hannibal seeing me.”

TK pushes off the counter, walking towards Carlos until they’re only inches apart. “Leave that to me,” he says, the twinkle in his green eyes is full of mischief, completely charming and more than a little disarming for Carlos. He’s always enjoyed playful partners.

He feels himself blush at his thoughts, just because TK agreed to help him bail on his weird date and get tacos doesn’t mean anything is going to happen between them. It doesn’t matter how beautiful TK is or how he’s totally Carlos’ type.

He’s not finished with his thought when TK is extending his hand to him.

“Shall we?” TK asks teasingly, wiggling his fingers at him.

Carlos takes his hand, inhaling a sharp breath as he feels a shock go through him when their hands touch. Eyes snapping up to TK’s, his heart beats a little faster when he finds that TK looks stunned himself. He tightens his hold on TK, fingers interlocking.

“So you got a plan?” he asks after a moment where they both look down at their hands.

“Through the kitchen and out the back?” TK suggests with a shrug. “Tell me he didn’t drive you here.”

“No,” Carlos shakes his head, with an online date, no way was he going to let anyone pick him up. “I drove here.”

“Perfect, I ubered,” TK says with a grin as he guides Carlos deeper into the restaurant. “Guess you’re our getaway driver.”

Carlos chuckles softly, shaking his head, he’s not sure what he’s doing, trading one stranger for the next but it feels right even if he still feels kind of shitty for his date.

“Maybe I should leave him a note?” he questions right before they step into the kitchen. “So that he doesn’t spend the night waiting for me to come back?”

TK looks at him for a moment, seeming to come to a decision he waves over the waitress that coincidently had brought Carlos and his date their menus and waters as she stands by a cutlery station.

“Hey,” he starts, smiling brightly at the young girl, Carlos can see how she’s instantly affected by the power of TK’s smile and feels a little relieved it’s not just him. He listens as TK explains the situation; bad date, trying to leave without making a scene.

The girl nods as she looks at him, he’s thankful she’s not giving him a judging look.

He pulls out his wallet, taking a couple of bills out to cover anything the guy might order and a tip for her.

“You don’t have to go through the kitchen, that exit leads to the parking lot,” she explains as she points to a different door. “Also, that guy is totally bizarre.”

Carlos smiles at her, he’s not sure if she picked up on the same odd vibe or if she’s trying to make him feel better for bailing, but he’s grateful all the same.

He and TK make it out to the parking lot without a problem, and while he still feels terrible for leaving, he also can’t help the relieved breath he lets out the second he’s inside his car. He pulls out of the parking lot quickly and sets towards Walker St.

“So how long have you been in Austin?” he asks, his eyes straying off the road to look at TK for a second.

“Almost four months?” TK adorably wrinkles his nose as he thinks. “My dad got offered to help rebuild the firehouse we’re at, I had a bad break-up, so we decided I could use a change of scenery, and came here.”

Carlos itches to ask about the break-up, but it isn’t his place no matter how curious he might be. “What company are you with?”

“The 126,” TK says with a smile, and Carlos feels his eyes widen at the number.

“You’re TK Strand then,” he says, amazed at the coincidence. “Your dad is Captain Strand.”

TK looks over at him; his eyes are wide and curious. “That’s right, how did you know that?”

“Well, for one, I have been on a few of your calls,” he starts, letting out a chuckle, he can’t believe he’s been in TK’s orbit without running into him.

“That’s impossible, I would have noticed you,” TK answers back quickly, and Carlos feels his pulse spike at the blatant assurance that TK found him attractive.

“Ditto,” Carlos murmurs, feeling his cheeks heat up even as he smiles when TK flashes him a smirk. “Maybe we just haven’t been lucky enough to be on the same calls. But I know Judd, and Michelle Blake is my best friend.”

“Well, damn,” TK shakes his head, his shoulders shaking a bit. “We’ve been running in the same circles and missing each other; fate is not always kind.”

“We ran into each other today though,” Carlos points out, looking over at TK as he parks outside a small storefront with blue writing. “Maybe fate is making it up to us?”

TK nibbles on the corner of his bottom lip, it’s an appealing shade of pink, and all Carlos wants to do is lean in and soothe the teeth marks TK is leaving with his tongue. TK lets out a small noise, and Carlos forces himself to drag his eyes off his mouth to look at his eyes. Even in the dim light of his Camero, TK’s eyes are mesmerizing, they’re a shade darker than earlier, and there is a look in them that Carlos recognizes as what he’s currently feeling.

Desire.

“What are you thinking right now?” he whispers, leaning forward over the center console and swallowing hard when TK does the same.

“You know what I’m thinking about,” TK whispers back, he wets his lips slowly. “You’re thinking it too; it’s all over your face.”

“Tell me anyway,” he shoots back.

Carlos sees the smirk on Tk’s face seconds before he presses his lips against his. TK traces his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, the action is playful, and Carlos parts his lips instantly for him, his stomach clenching and fluttering in a way that it hasn’t since he was a teenager. He’s known TK less than an hour, and yet the touch of his mouth against Carlos’, sends his heart racing. TK flicks his tongue against his, and Carlos can’t help the needy noise that escapes from his throat. TK answers the sound with one of his own, a low moan that vibrates between them. The kiss turns hard and dirty as they desperately grab at each other, hands coming up to each other's faces as the kiss gets desperate, they’re practically fused together, and it’s still not enough.

Carlos can’t remember the last time he wanted anyone as much as he wants the man who is kissing him like he’s staking a claim on him.

God, he hopes he is, because after tasting TK, Carlos doesn’t think he can go back to swiping right on Tinder.

Maybe Michelle is right, and he does need someone, he just wants that someone to be TK.

They break the kiss when breathing becomes a problem. Still, and even though he’s breathing heavy, TK gives the corner of his mouth a small kiss, he lingers there, lips soft against Carlos’ skin in the gentlest of caresses while his hand touches Carlos’ opposite cheek just as tenderly.

“Holy shit,” he breathes out with a wide smile, his eyes shining with unbridled happiness. “Where have you been all my life?”

Carlos lets out a laugh, the joy of knowing TK is feeling the same as he spreads through every inch of him. “Going on shitty online dates, obviously.”

“Hmm,” TK murmurs, still smiling as a mischievous look takes over his handsome face. “Proposal. I’ll take you on non-shitty dates; some would even say amazing ones. I won’t make you feel like you’re out with a serial killer, and at the end of the night as a reward, you kiss me like that, what do you say?” he asks him, the smile on his face is shy, his eyes hopeful.

“I won’t fear that you’re going to eat me?” Carlos jokes, feeling his face go red when TK smirks at him, the smile is absolutely filthy. Carlos is embarrassed and turned on before TK even speaks.

“I mean,” he starts, there is a slight drawl to his words that should be ridiculous instead of hot, but it still makes Carlos’ stomach flip. “I can promise that if I eat you out – “ he grins, his tongue poking at the corner of his mouth. “You’ll enjoy every second of it.”

TK laughs at the look on Carlos’ face, but Carlos doesn’t respond, he can’t when his face is red and his dick hard. Instead, he pulls a giggling TK back into another kiss until the laughter trails off, and TK is begging into his mouth, telling him to forget the tacos in favor of taking him home.

Carlos turns his car back on; he figures he can cook them something back at his place later, and while he does that, he can delete his tinder profile.

As TK kisses his cheek and down his neck, whispering how good it’s going to be between them, he figures he won’t be needing the app anymore.

#911 lone star #911lonestarweek #911lsweek #tarlos #tarlos fic #911 lone star fic #tk x carlos #my writing

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0-solshroom-0 · 3 years

Text

wow this day just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it

vent post ahead

so like i was supposed to hang out with some friends tonight at a bonfire, but one of the girls (we’ll call her L) who was running the bonfire had to cancel because of rain. so since L cancelled, me K and S were all free now. so S has been talking about going to karaoke, and L and K were like yeah let’s go, and i just kind of asked if i could go too and they were like yeah. anyway karaoke is at a pub and i wasn’t sure if i could go and my grandma seemed a little reluctant so K suggests we go to the mexican restaurant if she doesn’t want me at the pub. once i’m off the phone K says we would tell my grandma we went to the mexican restaurant and we would actually go to the pub and i explained to her that my grandma goes to that pub and knows the people there and if i got caught i would basically never be allowed out again, but also my grandma never said no and i found out a couple hours later she was gonna let me go. anyway S says she’s not sure we’ll even be going, and i had to pick up my glasses and go to walmart so i went to do that while K and L hung out and the whole time i texted K asking for an update and K said she would let me know when S texted her. i never get a text or call from anyone and then i check snapchat and they’re out at karaoke without even letting me know they couldn’t come get me or i couldn’t hang out or anything. i’m not even upset that i’m not hanging out with them, it doesn’t bother me because i know i’m a hassle to hang out with because my grandma is strict about where i’m going and curfew, but i’m really upset that i had to find out over snapchat. and it doesn’t help that K’s original plan was to come spend the night at my place after the bonfire... idk the whole thing kind of hurts my feelings. like it’s not that big of a deal that i’m not hanging out with them especially since i asked if i could go instead of getting invited to go, but like, i feel like they at least could have let me know???

#we love getting ditched #@ the one irl friend who follows me (tree you know who you are) please don’t call me out i needed to vent i’m kind of upset #and also like please don’t tell them i made a vent post about them that wouldn’t be very cash money #anyway i’m just gonna vibe by myself tonight i guess #i even swiped up on their picture and told them they looked hot and all i got said back was thanks so that’s fun

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sometimesrosy · 4 years

Note

I really appreciate your honest opinions & enjoy that you don’t just react how others do or how people think you should. I find it refreshing. It reminds me of Raven & I aspire to be more like that irl. You don’t sugar coat things, tell it like it is & I’ve been on the receiving end of some of your more vitriolic replies bc I asked stuff on anon that kind of triggered other negative anons you were gettin. Anytime I explained you understood & explained & I understood where you were comin frm too.

Thank you. I appreciate.

I also want it to be understood that I ENJOY my asks. I like answering them and I like my askers, anon and not anon. I wouldn’t be doing them if I didn’t get something out of them. When I don’t like something about fandom, I stop doing it. And pretty much the only thing I’m still doing in fandom is answering asks and reblogging gifsets.

I may get upset at some anons because they are rude or because they push my boundaries. But that’s about the ask.

If someone pushes my boundaries... which is actually a NORMAL response sometimes when people say no... and then gets angry at me for HAVING boundaries, THEN I’ll get mad at them. Because it’s disrespectful. And I try to be respectful to my askers.

I absolutely WILL respond differently if someone comes back to explain or apologize. Because I have no investment in hating anon people. And I don’t know who they are. Some of you are my friends in disguise, I’m sure. Also, some of you are my enemies in disguise. And I don’t know which is which.

I think it’s ridiculous that I have enemies in fandom, but fandom likes to make enemies and villains. I’d much rather just ignore people I don’t like, but I don’t always have that option. Because there are a lot of bullies and meangirls here, and if you ignore their provocations, they’ll often just get worse.

I do think fandom has a culture where it is not only accepted to bully other people, to use their social power to abuse them, but it’s also considered part of the “fun” of fandom. It’s an activity. It’s how people get others on their side and how people bond. It’s horrid.

I am not quite sure why I’ve been made a target of this activity, why some people think it’s fun to call me names or try to control me or get gangs together in their chats to send me anons, but they do.

I was thinking this morning that content creators, whether canon writers/actors, fanfic writers, fanartists, gifset makers, fanvid makers, or meta writers, are seen as part of the fandom service workers. We provide the material that fandom consumes. And because we are service workers, some parts of fandom consider us to be working for fandom. That makes fandom the customers and in fandom’s eyes, “The Boss,” and it makes content makers the employees, the servants.

I’m like the waitress of fandom, serving up the plated content so fandom can enjoy a hot dish. And as such, I get the brunt of the reaction when people are dissatisfied with the content. Meanwhile, I did not make the original content. I’m just showing you what we have to eat, making suggestions, putting the plates in front of you. Trying to make it makes sense. Maybe dressing it up with some garnish.

Meanwhile fandom is like, this is a terrible pizza. And I’m like, ma’am, this is a Mexican restaurant, we don’t serve pizza here. That’s a quesadilla. And fandom is like “How Dare You Tell Me What I’m Eating You Are A Racist/Lesbophobe/Clown To Disagree With Me I Am The Fandom You Work For Me.”

And I’m like, “It’s still a quesadilla. See? Beans. Tortilla. Jalapenos. Guacamole. Salsa. Still cheese but queso blanco not mozzarella.”

And they scream and tantrum and yell CANCEL ROSY CANCEL HER SHE IS EVIL.

Meanwhile fandom is trying to close the restaurant for putting beans on their pizza and sending letter bombs to the cooks in the kitchen and the boss who owns the restaurant. Because they’ve decided that part of going to eat in restaurants is complaining and abusing the people who make and serve their food, because it should be Italian food not Mexican food and that means they are bad and the restaurant is bad, possibly a health hazard so they should all suffer.

Meanwhile, a different part of fandom is trying to tell me how kind and lovely fandom is, and I’m sure they are, to THEM. But have you ever heard of that saying, “a person who is nice to you but not nice to the waiter is not a nice person.”

And thus ends my metaphor. I had fun. lol.

#fandom #metaphors #i was a waitress for ten years so maybe that's where this comes from #you always get blamed when the food sucked no matter how hard you work to make the customer happy #well no not always. when the people are nice they recognize that you're the server not the cook.#when the people are assholes they will blame you for a rainy day or their bad day at work and you get stiffed #when people are assholes they tell you you are the best server they've ever had and leave you a 10% tip

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omgjasminesimone · 4 years

Text

How to Make a Family Sequel/Interludes

Bryce x MC

Companion piece to this fic

Word Count: 2500

A/N: I’m in such a Bryce x MC mood lately. Can’t wait until Open Heart finally returns on 2-29. Just some random fluffy scenes.

Bryce rushes around their townhouse, grabbing his keys off the counter before hastily preparing a lunch to take with him to the hospital. He pats his pockets, searching for his phone but comes up with nothing. “Babe? Can you call my phone?” He calls out to Casey in the living room.

Casey pauses the episode of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ she was watching. Trash reality TV is her guilty pleasure when she has a day off without Bryce. When they both have the day off together, they tend to do something like a stroll through Harvard or MIT, followed by lunch at a restaurant they haven’t been to. Or on a more active day, something like indoor rock climbing and a movie.

She reaches for her own phone off the coffee table, and dials Bryce’s number from her recent contacts list. She can faintly hear it ringing from upstairs. “Can you grab it, please?” Bryce asks, slathering mustard onto a sandwich.

Casey jogs up the stairs two at a time, following the jingle from the still ringing phone. The jingle leads her to the master bathroom, where Bryce’s phone sits on the countertop by the sink. ‘Light of my life. Mother of my child’ reads the contact info. Casey’s lips upturn into a smile at the sweet words.

She hurries back down the stairs, slipping the phone into Bryce’s back pocket as he chops carrots for a salad. She wraps her arms around him from behind in a hug. “Center of my universe. The man whose sperm fertilized my egg in our surrogate’s womb.” She greets cheekily.

She peers around to look at him. He looks confused for a second before it dawns on him. “Oh. You saw your new contact information. I should have known you would tease me. You’re such a bully.” Bryce taunts, but he’s smiling.

“Am I really the light of your life?” Casey asks.

“I think I actually like center of my universe better. I might steal that from you.” Bryce retorts. He turns to face her, wrapping her up in his strong arms. “Am I really the center of your universe?” He questions.

Casey pretends to think about it, waiting several moments before answering. “For now. Once our baby is born though, you might get deposed.”

Bryce laughs, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “That’s fair. I guess I better enjoy the next seven months at the top. Just so you know though, you’re always going to be the light of my life. Things are going to be crazy between work and a new baby, but I’m going to make sure we don’t put us on the back burner. I’m always going to prioritize my relationship with you, the mother of my child.” He insists.

Casey pouts. “Well, now you made me feel bad for my answer.”

Bryce winks, and then leans down to kiss her soundly. “You can make it up to me when I get home.” He whispers seductively when he pulls away.

...

“I feel kind of ridiculous.” Casey admits as the photographer sets up, shifting uncomfortably.

“Well, you look beautiful.” Bryce insists.

“Yeah right, I look like I’m ready to pop.” Casey complains, looking down at her very pregnant belly. After struggling so much to get pregnant, she feels like she should be enjoying every moment, but honestly, she hates it.

She’s uncomfortable, all the time. The twins love to be on her bladder, so Casey feels like she spends half the day peeing. She’s exhausted, and everything hurts. She was forced to go on maternity leave when walking around the hospital all day just become way too much for her back. And worst of all, she suddenly has an aversion to her favorite food, Mexican. She’s never getting pregnant again. She’s definitely a fan of the surrogacy route that blessed them with their son, Eric.

This is why she thought maternity photos would be a good idea. This was going to be her only chance to get them. Since she’s not currently working, that left plenty of time for Pinteresting. After weeks of research, Casey decided to go with the artistic half nude maternity shoot angle.

“Okay, I’m ready when you are.” The photographer informs the couple, aiming her camera towards them.

Casey slowly lowers the sheet she had wrapped around her whole body so it just covers her from the waist down. The photographer directs them into the first pose, Bryce standing behind Casey, cupping her breasts to keep them covered while she rests her hands on her belly.

“Ow Bryce!” Casey complains when he cups her very sensitive breasts.

“Casey, I’m barely touching you.” Bryce insists, tone wary since basically anything can set her off now-a-days with the pregnancy hormones.

“Well, they hurt!” Casey retorts, knocking his hands away. “I’ll hold them.” She decides.

Bryce lowers his hands to rest on her belly instead. “Where are you even planning on putting this photo? You half nude over our fireplace?” Bryce wonders aloud.

Hmm…Casey hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. She’d actually be very uncomfortable with anyone who came into their home seeing these photos.

She shrugs. “Maybe I’ll use it as our Christmas card. For close friends. And some family. But not either or our parents.”

…

Bryce quietly closes the door behind him when he enters their house in the Boston suburbs. He managed to get on an earlier standby flight from the surgical conference in San Diego, but that resulted in him getting back at 12:30 AM Eastern Standard time.

He quietly climbs the stairs to their bedroom, navigating to the master bathroom without flipping on the bedroom lights. After a quick shower, Bryce wraps a towel around his waist and silently re-enters the bedroom.

Eric is asleep on Bryce’s side of the bed, star fished out leaving Casey fairly minimal room beside him. Bryce smiles and shakes his head with a chuckle. So much for them getting strict on getting the three-year-old to sleep in his own bed.

Bryce gently nudges Casey over and slips into the bed behind her. She stirs, “Bryce?” She calls out quietly.

“Hey, I missed you.” Bryce returns as Casey rolls over to face him.

“Not as much as I missed you. And the extra help. I picked up the kids late from the Edenbrook daycare center 4 out of 5 days. They’re about to fine us.” Casey warns.

Bryce smiles, “Good to know you can’t do it without me. Don’t worry, super dad is home.” He teases.

Casey rolls her eyes, but she’s obviously not that annoyed because she lets him pull her into a kiss. It starts to get heated, and she reaches for the towel wrapped around his waist.

“Hey.” He warns, pulling away. “Kid in the bed.” He reminds her.

Casey rolls over and sees Eric sleeping soundly, thumb in his mouth. She pulls his thumb out before rolling back over to her husband. “He insists there is a monster under his bed, so he has to sleep here.” She reveals. “We could have sex in his racecar bed if you’re not worried about monsters.” She suggests jokingly.

“Too close to the twins’ room. We wouldn’t want to wake them.” Bryce jokes back.

“Well, then there’s only one solution. You have to put those skilled hands to good use. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to get him into his bed without waking him up.” Casey challenges.

“I’ve never been one to turn down a challenge.” Bryce retorts, sliding out of the bed. He approaches his eldest son, carefully leaning over him. Bryce places a hand behind Eric’s head, and then, carefully, raises him to a seated position. He pulls him forward, and Eric’s head lolls against his father’s shoulder.

Eric murmurs for a second, and Bryce freezes. But then his soft snores continue, and Bryce looks at Casey with a grin. Bryce carefully lifts his son into his arms, and then just as carefully shuffles down the hall to the boy’s room.

Bryce slowly places his son on the bed, and then tucks him in. And Eric sleeps through it all. Bryce gently brushes some of Eric’s wavy brown hair back from his face, and places a kiss to his son’s forehead before leaving the room and quietly closing the door behind him.

He makes a pit stop by the twins’ room, stopping at each crib to peer down at the sleeping inhabitant. Farrah has rolled onto her stomach, so Bryce lays her on her back before moving over to Daniel. He gently rubs his thumb on the sleeping one-year old’s cheek. It’s getting harder and harder to leave his family for conferences and out of town surgeries he’s requested for. But if he didn’t leave, then he wouldn’t get this great coming home moments.

After checking on the twins, Bryce gently closes the door and returns to his bedroom.

“He’s still out?” Casey asks when he get back into bed.

“Sleeping like our babies. I nailed it.” Bryce praises himself.

Casey chuckles. “Now nail me.” She fires back.

Bryce grins, rolling on top of her. “Yes ma’am.”

…

“What are you watching?” Casey asks, cuddling into Bryce’s side on the couch.

Bryce tilts his phone so she can see it. “Hair tutorial, so I can braid Farrah’s hair, it’s getting long and I need to know how to do more than the puffs.” He informs his wife.

“Really? You want to learn how to do her hair?” Casey questions.

Bryce quirks an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know, it’s just a lot of black dads don’t know how to do their black daughters’ hair, so I guess I never expected you to.” Casey admits.

“How hard can it be? Her curls are pretty loose. And you know I’m great with my hands.” Bryce insists.

“Harder than you think, she’s tender headed. And for a toddler, she’s very strong and will do whatever she can to get away from you when you try to comb out her hair.” Casey replies. “But I’m not trying to discourage you. I love that you want to do her hair.” She adds.

“Can I practice on your hair?” Bryce asks.

“No.” Casey quickly replies.

…

“Daddy look!” Farrah exclaims, showing Bryce the picture she drew.

“Wow Farrah, that’s great!” Bryce praises, giving his daughter a bright smile before turning back to Eric’s homework. “Okay Eric, how are we gonna add ¼ and ½?” Bryce questions.

“They need to have the same number on the bottom.” Eric replies.

“Denominator.” Daniel interrupts, briefly looking up from the book the six-year-old is reading. All their kids are smart, but Daniel is the genius of the bunch. His teacher wanted him to skip several grades, but Casey and Bryce were adamant about him having normal social experiences, not being one of those ten-year-old prodigies at Harvard.

“Yes, we need to find a common denominator.” Bryce adds, handing Eric the pencil so he can do it himself. Bryce checks his watch. He’s going to be late if Casey isn’t home soon.

Just then, Casey bursts through the door, still in her scrubs. “Sorry, there was an accident and it was all hands on at the hospital.” She apologizes, pausing to ruffle Farrah’s dark curls when their little girl runs to hug her legs.

Bryce frowns, checking his pager. “Why didn’t they call me in?” He questions.

“Because they actually want some of the other surgeons to get some experience.” Casey retorts, kissing him quickly once she’s disentangled herself from Farrah. “Did they eat?” She questions.

Bryce throws on his coat and grabs his keys, heading out for his hospital shift. “They did!” He calls back to Casey. “Bye guys, love you!” He calls back to the kids before hurrying out the door.

…

“Keep your eyes peeled for Hannah guys, she’s around her somewhere.” Casey instructs, peering out the passenger side window as Bryce slowly drives the van through the Arrivals section of Boston Logan.

“What does she even look like?” Daniel asks.

“Like Dad, duh.” Eric retorts, with all the attitude that is to be expected from a sullen thirteen-year-old.

Bryce has met Hannah, his biological daughter through his sperm donation to an old friend, on two occasions in person when he was in Hawaii. But now that she’s an incoming freshman at Harvard, it’s the first time she’ll be meeting the rest of his family.

She doesn’t know anyone else in Boston, so he promised Wendy and Jaclyn he would take care of her. That they would treat her like family. He’s excited to get to know her better. The phone calls and letters decreased as she got older, as he had his own kids, but Bryce would definitely like to reconnect.

“Is that her?” Farrah asks, pointing to a native Hawaiian teenage girl standing alone on the curve, dressed in ripped jeans and a tank top.

Bryce smiles, pulling up. “It is.” He honks merrily to get her attention, and Hannah offers a shy wave.

Bryce parks, and immediately envelops Hannah in a hug. “Welcome to Boston!” He greets. “How was your flight?”

Hannah pushes a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. “Long, but I’m glad to be here! Thanks for picking me up. My moms were so worried about how I was going to get around.” Hannah replies.

“They should know they have absolutely nothing to worry about. You’re family now.” Bryce insists. “Which is a great segway. Meet the rest of the family!”

Casey is the first one out of the car. “Wow, you’re so pretty.” She praises as she pulls Hannah into a hug.

“Thanks, so are you.” Hannah returns, smiling.

“And these are my kids, Eric, Farrah, and Daniel.” Bryce introduces as each of the kids gets out of the van.

“So, you’re our sister now?” Farrah asks hesitantly.

Hannah pauses as she tries to decide how to explain this to an 11-year-old. “Half-sister, biologically.” Hannah decides on.

Farrah grins. “I always wanted a big sister!” She announces before launching herself into Hannah’s arms.

Hannah laughs, hugging the smaller girl tightly. She’d been a little worried about this big move to the Boston area, about reconnecting with her donor dad, but after meeting the Lahelas, Hannah has a feeling everything is going to work out fine.

…

Taglist: @octobereighth @akrenich @lovehugsandcandy @regina-and-happiness @brightpinkpeppercorn @choicesarehard @lizeboredom @hellooliviaolivia @dreaming-of-movies @friedherringclodthing @weaving-in-words @fairydustandsarcasm @goldenjellyfish12 @pessimystic-fangirl @mimikoasahina @srta-give-me-my-jax-rl @god-save-the-keen @caroldxnvxrs @cora-nova @emceesynonymroll @choicesgremlin @anxious-arliah @cordoniasmost @lahelable @ohsnapitzlovehacker @crispycrunchyleaves @desiree---1986 @debramcg1106 @emichelle

#bryce x mc #bryce lahela #bryce lahela x mc #open heart #choices fanfiction

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prettyboyspenceee · 5 years

Text

Chapter 2 - Saved

A/N: Yay! Part 2! I hope all you like it! Keep liking and reblogging!

Description: Olivia’s hidden talent and sleeping arrangements are revealed.

Character Appearances: Olivia Morales, Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan

Disclaimer: I don’t own Criminal Minds, sorry to disappoint! I do own Olivia Morales and other surprise characters.

Word Count: 1,548

Posted: October 27th, 2019

---

5 Months Later

Olivia took cases with kids hard. The case that the team had just closed reminded her that she just couldn't save everyone, no matter how hard she tried.

Usually, after a case, Olivia and Spencer had a tradition of getting takeout from their favorite Mexican restaurant and eating in one of their apartments. It was something that they had between the two of them, separate from the team.

Dinner was at Spencer's apartment tonight. He was playing Beethoven on his radio as they ate.

"Hey, Liv, are you okay?"

Olivia looked up from her food and gave Spencer a weak smile, "I will be."

Spencer nodded. He felt the same way.

After the pair finished dinner, Olivia went back to her apartment. Spencer couldn't help but feel worried for his friend, his heart ached when he saw her in pain.

---

Olivia slipped on her oversized Georgetown shirt and her way too short sleep shorts. She took a deep breath and drifted to sleep.

On the other side of the hallway, Spencer was in the middle of his third book of the night when he first heard the screaming. He threw his book down, grabbed his gun and rushed out into the hallway.

When he realized that the screaming was coming from Olivia's apartment, his blood turned cold. He quickly grabbed the spare key and rushed into Olivia's apartment.

He found her in the bedroom, screaming.

"Olivia! Liv! Wake up!" Spencer said, frantically shaking her awake.

Olivia sat up and looked at Spencer with wide eyes that were filled with tears.

"Spence?"

"Hey, Liv. You're okay, it's going to be okay."

Spencer pulled Olivia into a tight hug and she let out gut-wrenching sobs.

As Olivia calmed down she pulled away from Spencer and wrapped herself in the covers of her bed, "God, I'm so sorry, Spence. This is so embarrassing."

"Don't ever apologize. We all get them."

She nodded, "Oh no. Your shirt is soaked."

He smiled, "It's fine. I like my shirts soggy anyway."

"Let me get you another shirt," Olivia untangled herself from the bedsheets and went to get Spencer another shirt.

Spencer was a gentleman, but he couldn't help but stare at the exposed leg of his coworker. His heart raced when he saw her every morning on their way to work, but this was different. Spencer felt like his heart was on fire.

He was sucked out of his train of thought by a shirt being thrown in his face, "Hey!"

He heard Olivia laugh, "You're welcome!"

Spencer quickly pulled off his wet shirt with ease, completely forgetting he was in Olivia's bedroom.

Olivia sucked in a breath, Spencer had abs. They weren't six-pack abs like Derek's, but they were abs. Olivia never noticed how defined his muscles actually were. Olivia's heart soared when she saw Spencer, but now her heart was racing.

She was thankful for the dimmed light in her bedroom so Spencer couldn't see the blush that was slowly rising to her face.

"Uh - I'll guess I'll head out then?" Spencer said.

"No!"

Spencer looked at Olivia with concern, "I mean... can you stay?"

"Of course,” Spencer was never one for physical contact, but he felt safer with Olivia, he welcomed all physical contact with Olivia, big or small.

Olivia smiled and crawled back into bed, "Lay down, Spence. I promise I don't bite."

Spencer laughed, "I really hope you don't."

Needless to say, both Spencer and Olivia slept like babies.

---

"Hey, Mouse? Late night?" Morgan asked Olivia.

Olivia smiled, "Something like that."

Garcia came rushing into the bullpen before Morgan could reply, "Hey guys, we have a case."

By Garcia's expression, Olivia could tell it was a bad one.

"Garcia, what do we got?" Rossi asked.

"Orlando, Florida. Elle Newbury, Michael Yung, Patrica Martinez, and Lauren Marks were all killed 2 weeks apart. All were found 3 miles away from each other, and they were all," Garcia shuddered, "missing their tongues."

"Well, the unsub crosses gender and racial lines. The removing of tongues could be symbolic, he might want to silence them," Olivia said.

"Or he could just be some sicko keeping the tongues as souvenirs," Emily mentioned.

"Aren't they all sickos?" JJ asked.

The team hummed in agreement, "What do you think Reid?" Morgan asked.

"Liv took the words straight out of my mouth."

"Spencer Reid? Speechless?" Olivia laughed.

"Since when does Reid call you Liv?" Emily said with a smirk.

"Since Morgan has been calling me Mouse," Olivia replied with a smirk that could make Emily's wither with shame.

"Alright everybody, wheels up," Hotch announced.

---

The team had been in Orlando for a week and Olivia hated it. The body count for this unsub was racking up and the team couldn't figure out why.

Olivia and Spencer were working the case on a couch in the local police department and they were both running on no sleep, just coffee. It wasn't long before the pair fell into their habits and they fell asleep together.

"Oh my god," Emily whispered.

"Garcia is going to have a field day with this," JJ said with a quiet laugh.

"Do we wake them?" Derek asked.

"Let them be, we'll brief them later," Rossi said, entering the conference room.

"Okay. But what about Hotch?" JJ asked.

"It's fine. They need rest, their minds are overworked," Hotch said as he entered the conference room.

Olivia turned in her sleep and the team watched as Spencer unconsciously pulled her closer to him.

"Oh god, JJ, please tell me you got that on video," Morgan pleaded.

"I'm sending it to Garcia as we speak."

---

"It's the unsubs personal vendetta!" Olivia announced.

"How do you know, Livvy?" Emily asked her.

"It was bothering me that the victims seemed to have no connection, so I had Garcia do some digging. It turns out that all of the victims were a part of the same AA group."

"How did we miss this?" Hotch asked.

"AA is anonymous. The victims never told their families and Garcia said it never showed on their records because they ALL used aliases. Anyways, I called some members of the group and although they were reluctant, they gave me the information we need. It turns out that one week before the killings started, a man named Max Gerard lost his 10-year sobriety chip, he came in screaming saying that it was the group's fault."

"That has to be the trigger," Rossi said.

"Do we have an address?" Spencer asked.

"Yup, Garcia just sent it over now," Olivia replied.

---

"Reid, Rossi, and JJ, I want you to go through the back. Morales and Prentiss, I want you to watch the windows, we have to assume that he's armed and he's willing to shoot his way out. Morgan, you're with me," Hotch gave his orders and everyone followed.

It wasn't Olivia's first takedown but for some reason, she was uneasy.

Olivia took the right side of the house while Emily took the left side.

"Gerard has Reid. Does anyone have a clear shot?" Olivia heard JJ through the coms.

Olivia felt her heart drop, "I don't have a clear shot," Emily said through the coms.

The rest of the team confirmed that they didn't have a shot, "Morales? Do you have a shot?" Hotch asked.

Olivia took a deep breath, "I do. Tell me when to take the shot."

"Now!"

Olivia took the shot and she watched as Gerard fell to the floor.

She rushed into the house, "Spence! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

---

After the week-long case, the team was finally back on the jet.

"Hey, Mouse, where did you learn how to shoot like that?" Derek asked.

"I taught myself. Scored a 100 on every firearms test."

Derek scoffed, "Who knew that our 5'2 resident princess of the BAU was such a good shot."

"We all did," Rossi said.

The rest of the team nodded and laughed at Derek's expression.

The team occupied themselves with their own activities Olivia moved over to the couch Spencer was on.

"Can I join you?"

"Yeah, of course," Spencer scooted over so Olivia could have space.

"Liv, I - I wanted to thank you, for saving me."

"Spence, earlier this week you saved me from a nightmare. Every time we sleep in the same bed, couch or chair, you save me. We save each other Spence, you don't have to thank me for that."

Spencer nodded, "I guess we really do save each other."

Olivia yawned, "Hell yeah we do."

"Are you tired?"

Olivia nodded, "Just a bit."

Spencer readjusted his position so he and Olivia could lay comfortably on the couch, "Sleep for a while. I'll wake you up when we land."

Olivia smiled, "Thanks, Spence."

Olivia rested her head on Spencer's chest and she couldn't help but feel safe when Spencer wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer.

Once again, Spencer and Olivia fell asleep in each other's arms. The team couldn't help but smile as JJ took another photo.

"Hey, JJ, I feel like we should make a scrapbook of these," Emily suggested.

"Don't worry, Pen's already working on it."

---

Little Rock, Arkansas was where the first victim showed up. Richard Monroe was missing a pinky. He would be the first of many.

---

tags: @reid-187

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issabakugodrangeel · 4 years

Text

9 Dorks SKZ 10th Member Au

Summary: Lisa meets the boys and gives Chan her answer

Warnings: none

Lisa’s P.O.V

After talking to Chan about him letting me in the group. He wanted me to meet the other members before I make up my mind. He told me to get ready at 7PM and gave the place they’re eating at.

Of course, I made sure to shower and dress casually. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I was never really good at being in groups and making friends. I've always been independent.

I looked up my phone and it read 6:40 PM. Decided to leave my place early just too see who the other members look like. I doubt they'll like me tho. I don't look anything like them.

-----

It's a good thing I left early there was an accident around the corner, slowing people down. By the time I made it to the restaurant, it was already 6:58 PM.I texted Chan saying I was here and he would meet me in the front door.

"Hey, glad you can make it." He opened the door and had a huge smile on his face, like the one where he told me that he wanted me in his group.

"I did promise I'd showed up didn't?" I told him walking in.

"You did. Come on, the guys are waiting." His hands told me to follow him. He lead me to a rounded table were I saw 8 other younger males. To be honest they were all pretty cute now, I'm questioning my sense of fashion.

"Guys, this is Lisa, Lisa this is the boys." Chan introduce me. They all were looking at me. "Um, Hi." I bowed down to them feeling a little nervous. "Hi." they all said bowing down as well. For some reason I had this good vibe coming from them like I've known them my whole life.

I then notice someone familiar. Well they all were I've seen them in building time to time but one stood out to me.

"Felix?!" I looked at him confused.

“Noona!?:" I'm guessing he was confused on seeing me too.

"You two know each other?" One that looks like squirrel asked us.

"Uh yeah, we have private Korean classes together." Felix mentions. JYP thought it would best if we both were thought by the same teacher, since we're both foreigners. JYP also thought it would help Felix more too since he was new too. I didn't mind it, it was just the two of us and we both helped each other outs. At least I know one other person in the group, who doesn’t hate me. I think.

"Anyways you can sit next to me, Lisa." Chan scooted over so I can joined. "Thanks." I smiled placing my bag down.

"Hi, I'm Woojin." The guy that was sitting on the other side from Chris greeted.

"Hi, I'm Minho." the guy next to him winked at me. I didn't think too much of it. I heard from others that he's a good dancer.

"Hi, I'm Changbin dark rapper."

"I think I heard you rap before, you're really good." I complimented him. "Ah! Thanks!" He blushes.

"Hello, I'm Hyunjin."He spoke in english I gotta say his english was good and he was so handsome too. Like god damn, he could be a god damn model.

"Hi, Han Jisung." wow he does really look like a cute squirrel.

"And you already know ya boi Felix." His deep Australian voice always shook me. Like he's 17 and he has the voice of 40 year old.

"Hi, I'm Seungmin." This one also spoke in english well. Damn can they all speak english?

"Hi noona I'm jeongin, I'm the youngest here." He was so cute smiling with his braces. My heart went Uwuw like I need to protect this child at all cost.

"Noona?!! How old are you?" Jisung asked me.

"Oh, I'm a 97liner." I smiled nervously.

"Wow you’re tiny for a noona." Hyunjin jokingly teased me.

"Bro" Felix nudge him.

"sorry." Hyunjin apologized

"It's fine I'm used it." I assured him I can tell he still a bit guilty. I didn’t really like it when people teased me for my height but I’ve grew to get over it.

"Join the club." Changbin took a sip of his drink.I laughed.

"It's okay she can be our big, tiny noona." Minho smiles at me giving me a new nickname.

"I like that." I smiled at the name.

"Looks like you're the same age as me and Chan. Finally another parent to help keep these kids in check." Woojin teased. We laughed.

“EH, wouldn’t be too sure about that hyung. She may be older but she acts like a child sometimes.” Felix corrected I eyed him.

“Excuse me?”

“Last week you were crying because you couldn’t find your airpods.” He chuckles. I frown giving up. The rest of the boys just laughed.

"So, what's the age range here?" I asked after the waiter brought me my drink.

"16-20" Chan pointed out. I almost choked on my drink as they all chuckled. Damn they are young.

"You, me and Woojin are 97lines, Minho is 98, Changbin is 99, Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin are 00, and Jeongin here is 01." Chan put an arm around him. What the hell!!Damn I feel old.

"Don't worry Chan and I both feel old too." Woojin giggles. I hope I didn’t say that out loud.

"So, noona, you must be the girl Chan Hyung keeps talking about." Jisung mentions going back to that topic. I'm surprised that he talk about me.

"You talk about me?" I tried to tease him. Which worked cause I thought I saw him blush. He just let out a laugh.

"We-Well, like I said... I always had you in mind to our group. I wasn’t just gonna choose any girl." Chan played with his drink. Does he really think I'm that good. I just smiled.

“Thanks for being my personal stalker.” I teased he froze, causing the guys to snicker. “I’m joking.” I elbow him. He relaxed again.

"Noona, what position are you in for?" Hyunjin asked me.

"Oh, um...."

"She everything, does sing, rap and dance. Oh she also produces her own stuff right Noona?" Felix rambled.

"Bro how do you know this?" Minho questioned him. He froze for a minute.

"Uh, Korean classes duh." He smily says trying to avoid it. Felix is always good listener. We all just shrugged it off.

“Cool, so you write lyrics too?” Changbin asked me. I nod. “But, they’re not the good.”

“Are you serious. Your lyrics are amazing.” Felix points out. A smile appeared on my face. These guys are really something else.

“So, I guess you can be on the production team with Changbin, Jisung and I. we call ourselves 3racha.” Chan mentions. I kinda like that idea. Back in B.A.P the music producers wouldn’t let me or Zelo help out with productions.

"Noon, tell us a bit about yourself seeing hyung and Felix already know you." Seungmin suggested. I nod.

-----

After a few hours pass we all got to know each other very well. It's ironic how we all have something in common. All this time talking we kept on laughing our ass's of seeing much of dorks these kids are. They each showed me their talents and I gotta say they might young but y’all they got talent. I can see why Chan picked them out. He picked the right people.

Since I've been here I didn't have anyone judge me or say something rude about my race. I think it was Changbin that asked my race but they didn't seemed bother by it. Jisung commented saying I don't look Mexican at all lol. To be honest I love hanging out with them. It feels like we've belong together. I haven’t felt this way in such a long time.

"What do you say, Lisa wanna join our family?" Chan asked as everyone locked eyes with mine. At first I didn't know how it'd would work out 9 guys and 1 female. But after today I think if I say no I know I'd regret this. They're a bunch of lovable dorks.

"Say yes noona." Jeongin clapped his hands together giving me the puppy eyes. They all this look in their eyes of pleading.

I bit my lower lip before giving out my answer. I can feel the tension in the air.

I take one good look at each of them. "Looks like I have 9 brothers now?" I brightly smiled at them.

Once they heard my answer they grew huge smiles on their faces.

"Are you saying yes?" Seungmin questioned me one last time.

"I couldn't ask for a better team." I laughed.

Chan placed his hand in the middle as the other's did to I place mine last. "Lisa welcome to Stray Kids." everyone shouted the name of the group as we lifted our hands up and cheered.

"Stray Kids. I like that."

"We all thought about it. We would've waited for you but I was just too nervous to talk to you." Chan admits.

"The names perfect don't worry. Everyone will like it. I'm sure." I was still confused as to why he would be confused to talk to me.

"I always wanted a sister." Minho said. He told me he was an only child so he never had any siblings other than his cats.

"yeah. I feel like having you in our group, I mean family is going to be special." Changbin nods.

“Very special.” Hyunjin points out.

"I promise you guys, I won't let you down." I'll show them the best I have to offer them.

"Don't worry you'll be fine." Woojin places his hand on top on mine giving it a squees.

I then remember about Ryujin her friends. I knew how much they wanted Chan to pick one of them if they find out I was the one he picked my life will be a living hell.

"Noona, you okay? Your face went pale?" Felix raised his eyebrow at me. I can't tell them about what's happening me with them. Since Jisung are friends with them. I was surprised he didn’t bring them up. I don’t know if they talked about to him. I'm new so they probably won't believe me of the things they have done.

"Oh, uh yeah. Actually, can we not tell anyone that I'm the 10th member. I know there were rumors going around Chan looking for a female member and they've all been excited about it so i don't wanna crush the news just yet." I explained to them without telling them that the girl trainees haven't been really nice to me.

They all looked at me funny. "Well, JYP already know who was going to be our 10th member but, yeah we won't say anything." Chan pats my shoulder. Damn he really wanted me to joined that bad huh.

"We should get going it's getting late and we practice tomorrow, I bet you do too." Woojin looked at the time on his phone. I looked at mine he's right.

"Wow I didn't even realize it was getting late." I said surprised.

"Hey, noona can we exchanged numbers to contact you." Jisung asked me. Oh right I for got about that. We need to be in touched now.

"Sure here." I wrote my number down on a napkin and they all besides Felix took our their phones to add mine. I passed my phone around so they can enter theirs. Felix has mine from class.

"I'll text you more info about when we're on the survival show." Chan mentions picking up his coat.

I nod in response as we all got up and bundled up. it was fall time here in Korea and just like Chicago weather it's freakin crazy.

--------

"Is your dorm far from here? We can walk you? It's late after all." Hyunjin asked as being outside.

"You guys don't have too, it's a few blocks around the corner." I pointed to the direction.

"That's where our dorm is too." Seungmin mentions shivering from the cold.

"Come on guys we're walking our noona home." Minho locked arms with me. Taking me on ahead.

"You really don't have too." I tried to protest I didn't want to bother them.

"Nonsense. You shouldn't be walking by yourself out this late anyways. We gotta protect our sister from the bad guys." Chan announced.

“Oh, my knights and shinning armors.” I teased.

"Wait hyung!" Felix shouts, catching up to me and Minho and locked my other arm. I just smiled. What a bunch of dorks honestly. I’ve know I said it so many times but they are.

This is going to be fun!!! I love my new 9 brothers.

Lisa SKZ 10th Member Masterlist

#stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids 10th member #stray Kids 10th member au #bang chan #kim woojin #lee minho #seo changbin #hwang hyunjin #han jisung #Lee Felix #kim seungmin #yang jeongin

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artisticestheticreads · 5 years

Text

Summertime Magic (III)

A/N: Okay, so I was in the middle of writing part two when I had the idea for this one. Yes, I write weird as hell but hey. In this chapter, we will see N’Jadaka and Y/N’s friendship actually grow a lot more.

WARNING: Contains alcohol use, drug use and so much more (GUARDS YA LOINS).

*Gif down below was made by me. So please don’t take credit. Thanks, loves*

SONG RECOMMENDATION: FORTUNATE by Maxwell

It was the day of the party when Y/N was in her closet looking at what to wear. She had plenty of clothes but none felt “90′s” enough so she FaceTimed her best friend; her momma. “Hey, momma’s baby. How ya doing”, she asked with a huge smile on her face. Y/N loved her momma so much, she was her heart and soul. Since Y/N was the oldest, they were always very, very close. “I’m good, ma. I need your expertise really quick. Was ya busy?”

“Honey, I am never busy when it comes to you. Whatcha need”, her mom leaned up to the screen to get a better look at her beautiful daughter. “Ok, so I’m going to a party tonight. 90′s theme to be exact. We both know that all the girl are gonna have extensions down to they booty with bamboos and all but I wanna be different. What do you suggest?” Her momma chuckled as she thought of the fashion back then, bringing up old memories. “Well, baby. When I was growing up, I was very fond of the big ol hoop earrings that you can get at the beauty supply, clear gloss with a nude lip liner, mascara and beauty mark right on the right side of my mouth with a dark eyeliner. Now, with clothes, ya momma always stayed fly. I used to steal ya dads varsity jacket when he played football at Locke High with some either tight but baggy mom jeans, a bralette, and boots or a baggy jersey with some black bike shorts with scrunched up socks and sneaks.”

Y/N smiled at her mother as she continued with her advice. Soon, she was getting ready to go in her flared red bottoms and white tank with her toes in Nike slides. She arrived at the Thrift store as soon as it opened and went over to the men’s section; they just seemed to fit better and was way more stylish. She found an old oversized red school baseball with the number 93 on it. She smiled as she made her way to the bralette section. N'Jadaka is gonna love this, she thought as her hand reached for a black bralette (which had plenty of lace) big enough for her breast. She spent only twelve dollars on everything and made her way back home to shower and get ready.

Once she was done, she matched her fit with some high waist shorts, knee-high sock, and her bright red combat boots. Her hair was in a high pony with beads on a few locs and a red bandana wrapped around by her slayed edges. She was dancing to “Don’t Walk Away” by Jade on the Apple Music’ 90′s playlist when she got a call. “Hey, N’Jadaka”, she said with a smile and he responded. “Wassup, little one. I’m on my way now so be ready.” She rolled her eyes and as if he can see here, he said “you better stop rolling those pretty eyes of yours before they get stuck. Now, I’m around the corner. Open the door.”

“Say please”.

“Please open the door”, he said with a chuckle. She went over to the window to watch him park and waited for him to knock. Once he did, she opened the door and Y/N couldn’t help but smile. Erik was in a black buttondown Dickie shirt with a bright white crew neck shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, black Adidas Superstars with the white lines and a chunky, gold chin with diamonds throughout it and a black cap on his belt loop that had Oakland in white cursive. “Well, well. You look good,” Y/N said as he gave her a side hug. “Thank you, thank you. I’m my favorite rap group.” She folded her arms and said “NWA. Well, hopefully, you ain’t Dre because I ain’t tryna get my ass beat by some nigga.” N’Jadaka stepped back chuckling. “Dammmnnnn, you just beating my nigga, Dre though, huh?”

“Not like he beat that singer but eh.” She locked her door before they got to his car; he opened the door for her and they were on their way. She watched him drive as Snoop Dogg playing in the background. He leaned with his left hand on the wheel and the right on the armrest. His lips licked, so soft and kissable. He was handsome when they met at the store but with a nice trimmed beard and locks all done, he looked like a freaking dream. “So, Y/N, what ya got a taste for? The party is in Inglewood by Century. I’ll pay.”

“Honestly, I'm not hungry. We can just get frozen yogurt at Yougurtland”, she lied looking at the door. She didn’t eat at all that day because 1) she was nervous as hell about being at a party with the most attractive man and 2) she liked how flat her tummy was when she didn’t eat. Her stomach was still fluffy but it looked slimmer. N’Jadaka said “little one, we getting real food. Especially if there is gonna be alcohol there. Frozen yogurt or whatever isn’t going to do anything for no damn body.” Y/N looked over at him to see he was looking back at her. “I’m serious. Pick something.”

“How about Mexican food? I know there is a Chile Verde around there.” He smiled and said “that's more like it. I can go for a big ass burrito anyways. Carne Asada with everything and a large drink. When I go there, I asked for the onions grilled, meat well done and the cheese gotta be on point.” As he was talking, a sound got his attention. He looked to Y/N who had her stomach over her stomach. As she felt embarrassed, she looked straight and heard a small chuckle when she heard it again but not from her end. “I guess I made us even more hungry, huh?” She laughed at them as he did the same. “You did.”

Soon, they arrived in the parking lot and he opened the door for her to the restaurant. “Hello, welcome. How can I help you, sir” the young lady behind the register asked with a smile. “Yeah, can we get two Carne Asada burritos with everything? Then, I wanna add chips and guac and salsa and two large iced teas.” As he was talking looking at the menu, Y/N looked up too but when she looked at the cashier, the woman looked up and down at her with a brow raised. When Y/N cleared her throat and looked away, N’Jadaka looked at her and asked “are you okay”; she nodded and walked into a nearby booth. He paid the food and made his way, seating across from her. He noticed Y/N buttoning her top.

“Y/N, wassup? Why you fixing ya clothes?” He got no answer until he felt someone looking at their table. In his peripheral vision, he saw a dirty look from the woman who helped them. His eyes stayed on Y/N as he went to sit on her side. She looked at him as he wrapped his long toned arm around her neck slowly. “Y/N, don’t tell me you fixing ya shit because of the broad.” She tried to look down but he placed his finger on her chin. He held her cheek while he leaned into her ear to whisper. “I want you to look at her the whole time”. Y/N’s eyes lied on the cashier who was watching. “Don’t let that bitch make you feel bad about yourself, aight? She just mad she don’t look like you and can never look like you if she tried. She looks like she doesn’t even take care of herself. Her hair oily as fuck, skin ashy, and her lips looking like before Kylie.” She giggled in his ear while still watching the woman.

“Now, when you are with me, I don’t wanna see any shit like this again, okay,” he said finally looking back to her face. She grinned with a nod and he said: “aight, lemme get our food”. He kissed her forehead and got up. When he looked back, she smiled but noticed a heavier older woman coming out. She saw N’Jadaka pointing back at her and the older woman looking at her cashier with folded arms. The cashier held her hands in front of her and tried to look sympathetic. The older woman pointed at the employee then to the back once N’Jadaka made his way over. “Hey, little one. Here we go” he said as he passed her food. He started eating but she just watched him, sipping her drink. “What happened up there”, she asked.

He wiped his mouth and finished chewing, looking into her face. “Well, let’s just say when someone is fucking with my girl, I gotta check they ass”, he went back to eating and sipping his drink after he saw her smile and finally starting to eat. Once they were done, they stood to put their trash away when he noticed the cashier and the manager approaching them. “Excuse me, young lady. I am Gloria Gonzalez, the manager here and I would like to apologize for my employee’s behavior. It was very uncalled for.” N’Jadaka looked at her and Y/N said: “thank you, ma’am.” Gloria looked to her cashier with folded arms and said: “Selena, go on.” The employee said “I am very sorry for my behavior. I should be ashamed of myself.” The apology was very forced it was pathetic.

Gloria handed the money that N’Jadaka paid with and said “again, we apologize and your meal is on us.” N’Jadaka nodded, placing the money in his pocket and wrapped his arm around Y/N’s neck as they walked out. Once they got in the car, he started it saying “I told you. I keep muthafuckas in check.” She smiled and he did the same.

[This is How We Do It by Montell Jordans plays loudly in background]

They finally arrived at the dark shaded house. There was plenty of people walking down to it in flashy 90′s clothing, cars parked everywhere and the silhouettes in the window indicated the party was jumping. N’Jadaka parked, let her out and wrapped his arm around her neck as they made their way. He pulled out his phone as they got to the door and as soon as he placed it back in his pocket, a man with the same fit as his came to the door. “Aye, my nigga here” Jerald gave him dap as his other hand was occupied with a red solo cup. “Wassup, J. This is Y/N.Y/N, this is my nigga, Jerald.” Jerald smiled at her and said “welcome, welcome to my casa, fellow negroes.” She laughed and said, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“Come in, y’all. My girl in the kitchen of course”, he said leading the way. The crowd was so thick but that was no match for N’Jadaka. When they got to the kitchen, there was a small crowd around a ton of food and drinks. There was a woman with a jet black pixie hair, a rainbow-striped crop top, mom jeans and matching converse serving drinks. Her skin was a caramel tone and her eyes were a jaded green. “Sheila Baby”, N’Jadaka said and she looked up with a huge smile. “N’Jadaka”, she yelled with excitement. The group went over and he hugged her with one arm still attached to Y/N. “Sheila, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is my baby sister Sheila. We went to school and the navy together”. Sheila pointed to her with a smile “you did, J’s hair?” Y/N nodded and Sheila put her hand up for a high five; Y/N gave her one. “Girl, you done blessed this nigga’s hair. He was walking around like a premature wet mop.” Jerald choked on his drink and coughed with a laugh.

N’Jadaka looked at her with a death stare and said: “don’t be mad at me because you look like a Nia Long reject.” She chuckled and said “alright Nappy with Attitude, don’t get roasted on in here. I’ll embarrass you in front of baby girl here.” N’Jadaka placed both hands in front of him and said “bet.” Jerald passed Y/N a cold cup of Jack and Coke as they watched. Sheila sipped her drink and started. “My nigga, don’t let me talk about how you looked before you removed your scars. This nigga looked like a vibrator after someone ate some Taco Bell.” Jerald started dying laughing then Y/N sipped her drink with a smile because of Jerald’s contagious laugh. “Aight aight, don’t lemme get on that neck. Why the fuck did you rip ya pubs off to glue it on the nape of your neck?” This time Jerald and Y/N laughed. Sheila smiled with a nod and said “aight, but why you look like a fake ass Michael B. Jordan? He looks like Melrose Ave while you look like Slauson Swap Meet.”

“Yooooo, I look way better that nigga. But you just mad because you look like Halle M. Berry. But the M don’t stand for Maria. Ya name would be Halle Moldy Ass Berry.” Jerry threw his white bandana as they all laughed and Sheila was the main one. “You win, big dawg. You win”, she said wiping her tears away. He took a bow and heard “Too Close” by Next playing. He looked at Y/N who was bopping her and drinking. He held his hand out getting her attention. “C’mon, you know you wanna”, he gave her cup to Sheila and they made their way to the floor. He danced backward as she tried to pull out from his grip. “C’mon, I don’t like dancing.” He spun her in a circle with both hands in the air. He stepped side to side and said “don’t lie to me, woman. Ya better shake those hips. I know you can.”

She rolled her eyes and before she moved to the beat, followed by her feet. He watched her with a smile on his face and pulled her by her jersey to him. She giggled as she play swatted him away. The night was full of good, music and people. In the middle of the party, Y/N was in the kitchen talking to Sheila about setting an appointment when all the other ladies tried to squeeze in while she sipped more drinks. N’Jadaka was outside at the patio table occasionally looking in as his friends played spades. “BOOM, give. Me. Ma. Monaaaaaayyyyyyyy”, said Marcus. Jerald rolled up another blunt and whistled to N’Jadaka to get his attention. “Bruh, she good in there. Came hit this.”

“Pause”, said Trevon who looked at his new hand of cards and the fellas laughed. N’Jadaka took the blunt and lit it, taking a long hit. “Enjoy it, bruh. It’s yours.” N’Jadaka let the smoke out through his nose looking back at Y/N. “JD, stop sweating the girl. She having fun in there with all them females. Ya acting like y’all fucking.” N’Jadaka eyes went to Trevon and he said “Trey, I barely know the girl so why would we fuck. She cool and all-”

“Then, why you watching her like you her damn daddy”, Marcus asked sipping from his drink. “Because she around a bunch of niggas she don’t know. Tryna make sure she safe”, N’Jadaka said before taking another hit. Jerald looked at his best friend then to the others. “JD is right. He brought her here and we all know how he gets. Let the nigga be”, he said. N’Jadaka nodded and looked back at to see she was by the door. “Hey, N’Jadaka. When you coming back in? I kinda feel like dancing again.”

“Thought you don't dance didn’t like dancin’“, he said and she stated with a smile, “I don’t” before going back in. N’Jadaka stood and made his way back in and took Y/N’s hand into his. As the music faded into another, he held her arm around his neck. N’Jadaka placed his right arm around her waist as she placed her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer to him as the sound of Maxwell’s Fortunate played. He looked in her eyes as she smiled up at him. They rocked side to side slowly, in silent. He sipped from his red solo cup and handed it to her so she can have a taste. She finally was getting used to being out and around him.

Her left hand reached his to back while his hand went to her behind softly. She looked up at him but his eyes were closed as he let the song take him away. She noticed his lips moving to the words of the song. They were so soft looking. Her eyes traveled down his chest, abs and to his feet. Damn, he is beautiful, she thought to herself. She felt his hand cuffing her behind lightly resulting her eyes to get low. The way his hand held her close to his pelvis made her feel all warm inside. She looked up to him but by the time she did, his eyes were already watching hers. His brow was raised up and a smirk on his face.

“Y/N, you aight”, he questioned. She nodded with a smile and uttered “I’m good. Just, uh, a little tired.” He nodded and went over to the kitchen with her hand in his, getting Sheila’s attention. “Sheila Baby, we gonna head outta here. Thanks for having us.” She smiled and said “bwoy, you know y’all are always welcomed. Here y’all go. I packed a ton of food for y’all to go with some of my sweet potato pie.” He hugged her and took the bag. “That food is for both of y’all, J. Don’t be a Fatty Mc Fatty and eat up all the food.”

“Oh hush. Love you girl”, he kissed her cheek and Y/N gave her a hug before they walked out. He drove as she watched the streetlights pass by. They lit against the dark sky and so did the tall buildings. “Thanks for coming with me. I hope you had fun”, he mentioned with his left hand on the steering wheel. “Don’t mention it. I did have fun.”

“So, In ‘N’Out still opened? Want a burger” he asked and she just nodded. “Y/N, you a grown woman who needs to use her big girl words. I need words.” She rolled her eyes and articulated “yes, I would love to partake in a cheeseburger meal, dear sir.” He side-eyed her with a smirk and said “jackass” making her laugh. They made their way to the restaurant, order two well-done double-double meals with chocolate milkshakes and ate in the parking lot. They talked for what it seemed for hours and before you know it, she had fallen asleep.

She felt the car stop and a tap on her thigh. When she opened her eyes, she looked around then to N’Jadaka’s smile. “Hey, you’re home. Lemme walk you to your door”, he said before hopping out. Y/N watched as he came over to open her door. He got to the door, opening it and taking her hand as she held their leftovers. “I’m glad you had fun tonight, little one. You made it not so borin’”, he said and she grinned. “Daka, that party wasn’t boring at all”, she added but didn’t get a response. “Y/N, what did you just call me”, he asked with a curious brow. “Oh, my bad. I called you, Daka. I did-”

“Nah, I’m feelin’ in. Say it again for me”, he stepped closer to her making Y/N look up to his eyes with her big brown ones. “Daka, I called you Daka”, she responded in a timid tone. He held her chin up and said “got a nice ring to it. Doesn’t it?” She blushed at his touch and said: “yeah, it does.” She can feel his thumb on her chin, softly rubbing back to forth. “You need a nickname, too. Hm, let’s see. How about...”, he paused and looked down at her waiting eyes. “With f a face and eyes like this, I would call you baby girl. What you think?” She smiled and said “I like it. It’s sweet.” They stood for what it was like hours, his hand still her chin. He gently pulled her face forward as she to herself. Oh my God. Is he about to kiss me? She bit her lip, closed her eyes but what happened next surprised her; he only kissed her forehead.

She opened her eyes as saw that he was looking right at her. “You good”, he asked and replied, “yeah, just tired.” N’Jadaka looked around then back at her. “Ok, well Ima let go ahead and sleep but I’m gonna text you when I get home”, he said wrapping his arms around her for a close hug. When they separated and he started walking to his car, she looked down at the bag. “Daka, what? You forget ya left food.” He turned to her and said “keep it in the fridge for me. We can eat that for dinner tomorrow.”

“What if I was busy, Daka”, she said with her arms to the side. He reached the driver side of his car with his brow raised and said: “you not.” She placed her tongue inside her right cheek with a smile. “Mhm, I thought not. I’ll be here at 6:30, I’ll bring some drinks and shit. I’ll see ya tomorrow, baby girl.” He gave her a wink that made Y/N’s heart smiled and stomach flutter. He got into his car and watched her go in but she watched him pull out his phone; her phone rung and she answered. “Yes?”

“Stop watching me and take ya ass to bed.”

She laughed and hung up, ready for what tomorrow had planned.

TBH, this was all over the place but the next chapter is on the way

𝒯𝒜𝒢𝒢𝐸𝒟 𝐿𝒪𝒱𝐸𝒮

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#n'jadaka #n'jadaka x reader #n'jadaka udaku #erik killmonger x reader #erik killmonger x plus size reader #bp fandom #erik killmonger #summertime magic fic #artisticestheticreads

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msblackriver · 4 years

Text

I Worked With a Future Racist Cop at a Popular Asian Restaurant

When I worked at this popular Asian chain restaurant (y’all have heard of it). I witnessed the beginnings of a white racist cop. It actually was the most racist environment I've ever been in. During my 6 month stay there, I heard many racist remarks and unnecessary identifications of someone’s skin color. I did not for the most part say anything until one day I did. I admit I probably should have said something much sooner but I've always been non confrontational and for that reason I allowed them to make me uncomfortable every day. The vast majority of the server staff there was Asian, and the level of prejudice was beyond belief. Where waitresses would constantly complain when they got a “brotha sista” table, “brotha sista” was their way of saying ‘black’, they called white people simply “american”, see any problems here? The majority of the servers participated in these conversations.

Most days it was this type of prejudice I would witness, “why you give me all the brotha sista?” they would complain to the host. 3 of the 4 hosts were black or mixed, 2 of them were the sons of the GM who was Japanese, their mother was black. I was told that certain hosts worked with certain waitresses and gave them better tables which of course meant white people. The GM’s kids seemed used to hearing this stuff. I never saw them participate in it but it seemed they were good friends with one of the worst offenders, they were also teenagers.

The person I am today would not have waited nearly as long to say something, and probably would not have worked in a horrible environment like that for that long. But I also have to accept that was who I was. I was someone who didn’t speak up when I should have. I was at times triggered and highly uncomfortable but I was silent, by being silent they may have assumed that I was okay with it or that I wasn’t black? I somehow was not black to them I was “other”, this is part of the reason I had a fly on the wall experience I believe? My appearance to some is not ‘their’ definition of black, I am East African and some East Africans have this sort of response from people, as we generally don’t look African American. For many people if you don’t fit this mold then you aren’t black to them. This explains why it may of been said initially but my silence is what kept it going.

The sad truth too is that when you don’t say something people will just become more and more comfortable, and their offenses gradually become worse and worse; this is human behavior. This I guess is why one day they were able to have such a disgusting conversation within earshot of me.

The staff was mainly Asian and Hispanic, with a few Black, Indian, and White employees.

The reason they didn’t want the “brotha sista” was because they didn’t tip. There is some truth to this as I found out after working there but still… You gotta take the L sometimes as a waiter/waitress, also if you know that your restaurant is a popular spot for black people, I just don’t see what’s the point of complaining every time you get a black table. The Minneapolis was about 18% black at the time. Of the diners in the restaurant I would say about 30% were black, we knew this, accept it and move on.

One black woman asked for her ice cream before the food, and that really set off the top server, “Stupid black girl! she want her ice cweam befo’ da food.” Why did she have to point out her race? Entirely unnecessary and suggested that she thought black people as a whole were stupid. The same woman later on in a moment of understanding how what she said could be offensive said that they “didn’t want the black customers because they didn’t tip, if they tip it ok, Mexican don’t tip either, Asians don’t tip either but they cheap so cheap they don’t even go out to eat so we don’t worry about them, they don’t come here.” So there you have it, it was strictly about the money, but still not o.k. to profile your customers based on the color of their skin. There were a few, very few who did not participate in all this bullshit but the majority of them did.

In the beginning I thought I should call John Quinones so they could do an undercover expose for ABC. One day they really pushed it over the edge. The atmosphere was uncomfortable for me but made it very comfortable for the two white boys there. Now that racist shit was bad coming from the Asians but sounded even worse coming from the white boys, it may not be right but this is just how I felt. Again it was the daily “brother sista” talk, they moved in and adapted to the lingo “oh God” they would say disappointed “more brotha sista.”

That was pretty much what it was until one day I overheard the worst conversation I've ever heard. The 3 of them sat there discussing the previous day, it was the 2 white boys and an Asian woman (the top Server). Mathew’s father had come to the restaurant the night before and was seated with black people, he complained and asked to be moved because “they were so loud and stupid.” This was all said with a laugh and received laughter from the other 2. “Yeah my dad does not like black people”, again said with a laugh and everyone was just very amused. The restaurant was community style seating which meant you could be seated with another group of people if you had less than 8 in your party. The conversation continued and it took an even worse turn where Mathew says that his dad told him that he should be a cop and work in Texas, “there you can beat the shit out of black people and get away with it.” I could not believe what I was hearing, my blood was boiling now, a few minutes later I confronted him.

“What you were saying a few minutes ago is not cool.”

He looked caught off guard, his eyes were wide.

“Are you a racist?” not sure why I asked.

“Um no i’m not, my dad is.”

“Well whatever you believe you can talk about it at home or with your friends but you can’t talk about that shit here at work.”

“I’m really sorry, I’m not a racist my dad is.”

He apologized a few times, he was nervous, the asshole piece of shit felt bad for being called out. I sat at a table and vented, my Filipino coworker put 2 and 2 together and understood

“so when I work with you, you don’t like what I say about black people either.” She looked at me waiting for me to respond.

“Well” I said, “you shouldn’t talk bad about black people in front of black people”

“but honey why you mad you not black you half and half.” She felt what she said was o.k. because she assumed I was “half and half”, which is untrue. Her racist ass thought that a person that wasn’t full black would and should undoubtedly denounce their blackness completely. She felt guilty as she should, she was actually one of the better ones there (sad I know). I was clearly upset and it now made them uncomfortable, funny isn’t it how that works? whereas I was uncomfortable everyday. I looked over to my right gesturing towards some of our Hispanic co workers

“i’m not gonna talk bad about Mexicans in front of them.” She so quickly and eagerly wanted to correct me and make me the bad guy, “but see they don’t like that either, they not all Mexican some of them are Salvadorian.” She was telling me something I already knew, the fact though is that some of them were Mexican, and I just used that as an example. She was so desperate to make me wrong to make me the same as her because she thought the whole time that what she said was cool. The funny thing is I never even called her out, she called herself out. I was talking about the white boy and what he said, she basically turned herself in. Even if I mistakenly called a Salvadorian a Mexican that isn’t racist that’s just ignorant, that doesn’t mean there is necessarily hate behind that, she was gas lighting to save herself. Here I was upset and she is there accusing me making me more upset.

Unfortunately this type of racism and prejudice is very common, fortunately for many of them they will not be in positions that determine the fate of black people. Their racism will not go beyond an unwelcoming demeanor in the area of which they live and work. Not offering the same level of service and good citizenship to customers and co inhabitants of their city based on a persons perceived race. Speaking negatively of other races when they feel they are not around. For a few they will enter positions where they can cause more severe harm like ‘Mathew’ who was considering joining law enforcement. I wish I remembered his last name so it would be easier to look him up, but I pray he did not join the force.

#racism #cops #racistcop #twincities #minnesota #diningwhileblack

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